


In(Humanity)

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Reaper76 [66]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Abduction, Alien Biology, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Experimentation, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Memories, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Science Experiments, Torture, Trauma, Wrongful Imprisonment, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-16 03:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19309651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: “…today has seen more scenes of unrest outside the U.N. as people demand answers about the recent reports about human experimentation that have shocked the global community.”Talon had taken them, first Jack and then Gabriel. And up in space, far away from the prying eyes of anyone who could have helped, they were changed. Experimented on. Tortured. Twisted until they are changed almost beyond recognition, their humanity called into question, but they survived. Changed. Broken. But alive.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the 2019 Reaper76 Reverse Big Bang. Based on [THIS AMAZING ART](https://jellygay.tumblr.com/post/186261480414/i-finally-get-to-share-with-everyone-my-r76-rbb) by Jellygay. Please also check out all the work they have done for this, under the Alien AU tag on their blog.

   Gabriel was quiet as he slipped out of the nest that they’d built in the room they had claimed for their own, pausing for a moment as Jack shifted restlessly, tail flicking out towards him and wrapping around his wrist for a second before letting go as Jack moved across to claim the warm spot he had left behind. To the unknowing eye, the other man would have looked almost looked relaxed. Supine as he sprawled across Gabriel’s space, tail moving lazily behind him. However, Gabriel wasn’t most people, and the weariness from another disturbed night of sleep was more than enough to remind him that appearances could be deceptive, as did the way that Jack’s arms had bulked up slightly, his body’s instinctive reaction to a perceived threat even in sleep. He paused for a moment, itching to reach out and chase that fear away, but that was going to a long fight, much longer than he could achieve in a single morning and there was a restlessness in him that needed movement, and so he hesitated, before eventually drawing away.

    He slipped out their room, padding down the corridor, wincing as his claws scraped against the metal deck beneath his feet. He would need to trim them before he left, but for now, it proved a welcome distract, fingers curling so that he could press too sharp nails into his palms, losing himself in the rhythm of his claws against the floor. It made it easier to move through the familiar corridors, to step past the stains on the ground and walls, the scrapes on the wall, glistening with dried blood from where his desperate attacks had torn through metal and wires. Easier, not easy. He still found himself faltering as he passed the broken remains of the door that had led through to the labs that had been his home for months.

    It was foolish to dwell on the past, he had told himself that from the moment he had found Jack, but right now, with the future stretching out ahead of them, he found himself adrift. He couldn’t tell Jack that, something that left a terrible, gnawing ache in his chest as he recalled how they’d always curled up on the sofa after an awful week, holding each other close and sharing every detail of what had happened. But that was a lifetime ago, and a world away. That belonged to a time before Jack had been taken before he had followed and been captured too, before space, and the hell that they had endured and the uncertainty they faced now. It was a memory and dream, one that he clung to, although there were moments when he thought that might be all that it would ever be now, and maybe that was why he turned left, heading to the part of the station that he had avoided like the plague in the weeks since it had fallen to them.

   The entire station was quiet, only a low humming beneath their feet reassuring them that the station was alive, as they’d shut down all none essential functions in the areas they frequented the most. Not to conserve energy but to settle Jack’s ragged nerves as in those early days, the slightest noise that sent his thoughts back to the lab, and everything he’d endured there. Gabriel hadn’t been as sensitive, but he’d become accustomed to the quiet, to the stillness, broken only by Jack’s restless movements and low growls, and the occasional words that he could coax out of his partner. And it was almost a shock when the door in front of slid open with a dull, creaking moan that seemed deafening in the quiet. The corridor ahead, echoing with the sound of the lights flickering on and the systems coming back online, and for the first time, he was just as overwhelmed as Jack was in the face of the sounds and lights. He almost fled then, back to their room, to the makeshift nest that was a cruel mockery of the bed they’d once shared.

Back to Jack.

    He buried the temptation, urged on by some deep-rooted need to see it once more. However, even as he moved deeper into the station, his steps were slow and mired with reluctance. Here the evidence of his rage and desperation was stronger, and he found himself reaching out, trailing both of his right hands along the wall, tracing the grooves left behind by his claws. Adding to them, as he found himself pressing down, filled by a sudden need to leave his mark on this place, just as it had left its mark on him. Only these ones would be hidden, lost to time, or whatever else the authorities chose to use to destroy the station and the horrors it contained, while his… abruptly he snatched his hands back, wrapping all four arms around himself in a hug, that left him feeling colder than ever because it was another mark on his body. On his soul. Marks that wouldn’t be lost or hidden that couldn’t be hidden, as much as he wished.

    Neither of them could hide what had been done to them. They wouldn’t be able to hide and pretend that nothing had changed, that they had changed, and for the first time in ages, he allowed the tight ball of frustration in his chest bubble up. Rising in the back of his throat, until he thought that he might throw up from the force of it. Instead, he growled. It began as a slow rumble, much like the croon that he had used to soothe Jack back to sleep after his nightmare earlier that night, but it grew, refusing to be held back this time. It became a snarl, before building higher and higher, until he was howling and screaming, barely aware of how his claws left fresh rivets in the metal walls as he lashed out again and again.

    His rage was still blazing, a molten weight in his chest, but this time, when he scraped the wall, he didn’t make contact. His form was wavering under the force of his anger, smoke rising around him, and he tensed and snarled, feeling the skin on his back beginning to split open. Even with the loose shirt, patched together from two to accommodate extra limbs, he felt as though he could see the world, feeling the eyes blinking, taut against his skin as they formed. It left him dizzy and disorientated, feeling as though he could see everything and nothing all at once, his skin too tight, too small.

_No…_

“No,” he muttered, growling and snarling now as he clawed at himself instead of the wall, trying to make it feel as though he fit in his own body. Trying to stop himself from losing control completely, searching for an anchor. It was a lost cause, the air around him turning darker, and he squeezed his eyes shut, biting at his lip. _No._ He couldn’t lose control, not now, not when they were this close to going home. Not when it was their humanity, or rather what remained of it, that had ensured that they were even getting the chance. Not when Jack had spoken for the first time beyond saying Gabriel’s name, when he heard them discussing the logistics of going back to Earth, of going home. _Home,_ he didn’t think he had ever heard Jack sound so lost, and yet so hopeful, the blue eyes so different from the ones he’d first fallen in love with, finding a trace of that old Jack in his gaze.

“Jack…” He whispered now, seizing on that memory. Seizing on the image of Jack curling into the warm patch he’d left behind only minutes ago. Focusing on the man that had been the only reason he had survived what he was doing, remembering all the times he had whispered and mumbled that name as his body was poked and prodded, and twisted into whatever the hell it was now. It had been a prayer on his lips, as his body had burned with a sickening fire, and as his mind had bent and twisted, threatening to break, and it was the reason he hadn’t.

And it soothed him now.

    It wasn’t as simple as that, the minutes trickling away as he focused on Jack and on just breathing, in and out, in and out. But slowly the haze around him began to clear, seeping back beneath his skin, and his breath came in ragged pants as he felt his back slowly stitching itself back together, feeling as though a million ants were at work beneath the surface of his skin. It itched. It burned. His claws leaving bloody furrows in his palms as he fought to stop himself from tearing at the sensation.

   He was on the edge of breaking, giving in to the need when it began to fade away, and by the time it disappeared entirely, he was limp with relief. Slowly he let his arms falling away, dangling at his side, as he sucked in a deep breath and then another and another. It was only when he felt sure that he wasn’t going to shatter, that he opened his eyes, glancing down at his hands as he felt the stinging pain from the self-inflicted wounds beginning to fade away, grimacing as he watched the skin healing over in front of his eyes. It didn’t itch as his back had done, and if there was one aspect of his transformation that he could almost appreciate it was this regenerative power, especially as it would spare Jack from seeing the mess, he had made of himself. Still, it was another sign that he wasn’t human anymore, not really, and he glanced away, staring down the corridor to where he could see the doors that he had ripped clean of their hinges when he’d escaped.

    It was so close, and yet he didn’t make any move to edge closer. He didn’t need to. He could picture every inch of that room with perfect clarity, and he had a feeling that it would be a long time before those details would fade. If he closed his eyes, he could see the rows of vats filled with the same, sickly green fluid that had surrounded him for days…months…and he could see the people that had come and gone, most disappearing into black bags before the changes had even begun. The rest he had seen change, a slow, painstaking descent into another form at the whims of the scientists that had held them. Many of them had gone mad, their broken cries haunting him even now as they’d been dragged off to an uncertain fate. Some had turned newly formed claws and teeth on themselves, desperate to escape this hellish existence, while others had just…faded. Through it all, he had been there, changing, shifting. His body no longer his, and his mind forever teetering on the edge of breaking, of shattering into a million pieces.

He hadn’t broken.

   He had survived, somehow and now… He turned away from the doors, back towards Jack, the reason why he had come through what they had done to him, changed but not broken, before pausing and glancing back with narrowed eyes. “I’m going home,” he murmured to the ghosts and memories that lay in the room beyond, bowing his head before turning away and walking back the way he’d come, his head held high, refusing to look back.

_I’m going home…_

*

    He had taken a brief detour to the shower block on his way back to their room, making sure to clear up all evidence of what had happened, wiping the blood from his hands before carefully trimming his claws back. It had also given him a chance to bury everything once more, not wanting to worry Jack, knowing that his partner still wasn’t quite at the point of being able to deal with that. The weight was still there, the rage contained once more, and he knew that it would be a long time if ever before it disappeared completely, but by the time he was done washing up, he felt calm enough to face Jack and what lay ahead.

   Jack was still in the nest when he slipped into their room a few minutes later, but he was awake now, eerie eyes fixated on the door. Waiting for him, Gabriel realised, seeing the relief that flickered across the pale face before Jack looked away. It warmed him, chasing away the remnants of his rage, and he smiled before moving closer. Jack refused to look at him, but the tip of his tail was flicking and curling, telling him that he was listening to his approach. “Good morning,” he murmured, choosing to ignore the act as he settled at the edge of the nest, reaching out to run a finger over the end of the tail, earning a shiver and a half-hearted swat from the tail although Jack made no effort to pull away. “Jack…” He hoped that one day something so simple as using Jack’s name wouldn’t be enough to leave his partner a quivering mess, eyes softening as Jack almost jack-knifed himself in his hurry to turn around and reach for him, practically falling against him. “It’s okay,” he murmured, welcoming him without hesitation, even as clawed fingers scraped against him as Jack pulled him close, and he returned the gesture, wrapping arms around the broad shoulders, even as he continued to stroke and pet the tail that flicked against him.

     They sat like that for a few minutes, Jack slowly relaxing against him as Gabriel moved his ministrations to the spikes that ran along the length of his tail and up the middle of his back, massaging at the base, and drawing a soft noise from his partner.  “Are you ready to go home?” He dared to ask eventually, as the soft noise became a crooning purr, and Jack’s form shifted, the bulkiness fading from his muscles as he relaxed, no longer on the defensive. There was a pause, but Jack made no effort to pull away from him, and he was just starting to wonder if Jack had even heard him when the other man spoke.

“Home…” It sounded almost wistful, even if the low, growling rasp that was all that remained of his partner’s once mellow voice. It hurt to hear, not least because Gabriel had seen a little of what had caused the shift, had heard the screams, the ragged, desperate pleas that had led to the ruination of Jack’s voice. Yet it was also a blessing, because even now, with Jack clinging to more and more of himself, he was still slow to speak, preferring the safety of silence and relying on his tail to communicate when his words failed him.

“Jack?”

     Now Jack did pull away from him, hunching in on himself, wrenching his tail out of Gabriel’s hand as it curled around him. Gabriel let him go, watching him, knowing better than to push him, but hoping that he wasn’t just going to silent now. It seemed like he might have, as the seconds became minutes and Jack remained still and silent, staring down at his hands, blackened claws curled against his palms. Curling closer, and tighter, biting into his skin just as Gabriel’s had done earlier, and he must’ve made some kind of noise or a brief, aborted movement to stop Jack from hurting himself, because Jack stiffened and sighed, before lifting his head and looking at him. Gabriel’s breath caught for a minute when he realised that Jack’s pupils had narrowed to the point where they were almost cat-like, something that usually promised a meltdown, but Jack seemed relatively composed, for the time being, holding his gaze. “I…” Jack started and then hesitated, tail beginning to lash in agitation, although he was careful to keep the spikes away from Gabriel as he visibly struggled to find the words, snarling at himself, all teeth for a fleeting second before he ground out what he wanted to say. “How do I go home…like this?”

     Generally, Jack refused to discuss what had happened to him or to mention the all too visible changes he’d had to endure, so for him to broach the topic was a surprise in and of itself. An unpleasant surprise, Gabriel thought, remembering the look in Jack’s eyes when they’d first talked about leaving the station and returning home. There was none of that relief, that spark of hope now. Just fear and Gabriel could understand, a shiver working through him as his earlier emotions threatened to bubble up again. He pushed them back, not wanting to push Jack into an episode and instead he rose to his feet and moved to step in front of Jack, holding out a hand in invitation.

“Do you trust me?”

    Jack blinked, caught off guard by the question, and there was a pause, as he stared up at Gabriel, eyes darting between the outstretched hand and the patient, yet hopeful expression. Gradually his eyes began to dilate, pupils returning to normal, and it was a sign of just how far they’d come from that disastrous day when Gabriel had first discovered his partner trapped in a far section of the space station, that Jack doesn’t hesitate before reaching out for him. Even more encouraging was the sight of his claws retreating, still sharper than regular nails, but not enough to cause any damage as he tentatively grasped Gabriel’s hands, running a trembling finger over one of the many scars that he had left in those early days.

“It’s going to be all right. Maybe not right away,” his lips twisted at the admission, but he wouldn’t lie to Jack. “Maybe not this year, or even next year, or the year after that but eventually it will be okay.” There was a tiny part of him that wondered if maybe that wasn’t just wishful thinking, but he kept it carefully hidden, choosing instead to focus on moving forward and on the future that he’d once thought was gone for good.

“I hope so.” It wasn’t the reply he wanted, but it was more than he had hoped for, knowing that Jack still struggled to see a life beyond this nightmare and instead of asking for more, he lifted Jack’s hands and kissed them softly. Just as he had years ago when he’d finally spoken about his feelings for Jack. Jack’s answer had been more positive back then, accompanied by the bright smile that had always lit up Gabriel’s world, but the feeling was the same because it was still a step forward.

“Then let’s start with getting out of here.”                    

**

_This was it._

   When Gabriel’s desperate calls for assistance on the communications system that was unlike anything, he’d encountered on Earth had finally been answered, he honestly hadn’t known what to expect. He knew what had been done to them was wrong. That they were innocent parties. _Gods Jack, looking so helpless…no not helpless, he would never be helpless in this form, but lost…broken perhaps._ However, he also knew that they were different now. Potentially dangerous, and that had been without telling the officials about Jack’s breakdowns, about the violence that simmered just beneath the surface, and while he had maintained a confident exterior part of him had been terrified about what was going to happen to them.

    It had taken weeks, and not just because of the logistics. There had been questions. Interviews that had felt more like interrogations, especially when it was rare that he could coax Jack into appearing on the screen let alone participating. Then there had been their recovery. Their treatment had left them in a weird balance between bizarre, unnatural strength, and very human weakness, their new developments unable to counteract the limited food supply they had been given. With their takeover of the station though that had become a moot point, and under guidance from a doctor on Earth, they had slowly built up their strength. Some of the slowness had been feigned, Gabriel trying to buy them a little more time so that he could ground Jack in the here and now as much as possible because even though they’d come a long way, his partner was still a powder keg waiting to ignite.

    However, he couldn’t protect Jack forever, and the officials on Earth. Some new organisation – unnamed as yet, or at least that was what he had been told, which had been introduced to deal with their ‘issue’, and Talon’s other activities had insisted that it was time to bring them home.

So here they were.

    Sitting in a shuttle that had never been intended to return them to Earth, the Talon insignia on the walls leaving a deep, searing anger in his gut that had him wanting to rip it to shreds, and only the fact that this was their way home stopped him. Instead, he tried to focus on the positive, and on the fact that after everything, they were finally going home.

    He’d thought that there would be some sense of relief or at least the feeling that something was coming to an end as he heard the doors slowly sliding into place behind them, separating the shuttle from the main station. Instead, all he felt was trepidation. Maybe it was the lights flickering overhead, mercifully more yellow than the bright lights that had lit the rest of the Space Station…or the labs. But still too much after everything that had happened, and he was relieved that Jack had apparently anticipated this and squeezed his eyes shut, because if it were bothering him, then it would undoubtedly set the other man off. Something that desperately needed to be avoided while all eyes were on them, and while they were in a small, enclosed space although he wasn’t worried about being able to endure anything the other man could throw at him.

Or maybe it was the unknown that bothered him.

    And there were certainly a few too many unknown qualities ahead of them right now. First was whether they could trust the shuttle to get them back down to Earth, especially considering their inexperience with the craft, although they had been promised guidance. _Home,_ he tried to tell himself, but it rang hollow in his mind as he glanced out of the window, an alarm beginning to blare in warning as the docking bay doors began to creep open ahead of them. That was one worry, and indeed his most pressing one, as the craft shuddered, its systems coming online, and he could hear a metallic sounding voice confirming the override parameters from their ‘rescuers’. The other pressing one brought his thoughts back in a circle, and that was what was waiting for them back on Earth. The officials that he’d spoken to so far had been sympathetic but non-committal about what was going to happen to them, and as much as he hated being here on this station, with all the memories it contained. He hated the idea of going into the unknown, hating even more than it shouldn’t be unknown because they were going back to their planet. To their home.

  _And yet it doesn’t feel like that…_

     The admission felt like someone had emptied a bucket of freezing water over his head, and he shivered, glad of the distance between his seat and Jack’s, not wanting his partner to feel the reaction and demanded an answer. Because for the most part he did believe that things were going to be okay, but even in these moments where the creeping doubt became a roar, he didn’t want to let Jack see that, fearing what would become of the light that had started to grow in the too blue eyes recently.

“Gabe?” There was a gentle touch his lower wrist, and he jolted, startled to realise that he had started to lose form, and even more startled to find Jack’s tail loosely wrapped around him. As he watched it tightened. A reassuring squeeze that took his breath away, even as he looked across at the other man, and into those same too blue eyes. Jack had a hand up, sheltering himself from the light, and there was a tension in his features that told Gabriel that it wasn’t helping as much as they might want, but Jack didn’t seem to care, gaze locked on him.

“I’m all right,” he was quick to try and reassure, too quick because Jack’s eyes narrowed. For all that he was lost, still trying to work out who and what he was now, there was still a remarkable amount of the man that Gabriel had fallen in love with hidden beneath the surface. It was moments like this when those bits that were pure Jack – like his ability to see through Gabriel at the worst moments – that gave him the greatest comfort because it meant that despite everything, he was still Jack. That Talon for all the damage they had inflicted, hadn’t managed to destroy him completely, and his smile while slightly strained, was warm. “I’m just…” What he was ‘just’ was forgotten, as the primary display flashed green, making Jack flinch, although it was lost as the same metallic voice rang out.

_“Engines. Green. All life systems. Green. Station Doors Locked. Docking Bay Doors. Green.”_

“Gabriel.” The new voice was human and emanating from the communications display that sits between their seats. He was never quite sure how he felt about them using his first name, especially when the most he had seen of them was a flickering image on a holo-display. But when they’d asked if he’d prefer something more formal, he hadn’t been able to say ‘yes’, because all he could remember was fingers on his skin, followed by cold metal and pain and the odd ‘Reyes’ before he had become even less than that.

“We’re ready,” he says instead of voicing that thought, feeling Jack’s tail tighten, although his partner doesn’t object. Possibly can’t, because he’s stiffened in his seat, even the sound of another person’s voice enough to have him on edge at the moment.

“All systems are green, and we have control.” The man – Torbjörn – he places the voice. Eventually, it’s hard to put names to faces when he hasn’t met them in person, and his arms twitch, two clutching the armrest, and the others clenching into fists in front of his chest. “We may lose contact briefly on take-off and during re-entry, but it will be moments at most.”

“And if anything goes wrong?” Gabriel doesn’t want to ask, but he does want to be prepared, shooting Jack a soothing look that’s wasted, as the other man has covered his eyes, his tail beginning to twitch against Gabriel’s wrist. He’s anxious, and Gabe can’t blame him and just hope that it stays like that for the time being.

“It shouldn’t.” Torbjörn sounds almost offended at his doubt, and Gabriel can’t help but wonder if he’d feel that way if he was in their place. He almost asks, but bites back the words at the last minute, which proves to be a good thing, because there’s a pause as though someone is talking to the other man, and then the Engineer grumbles and adds. “But if it does, I will be able to guide you through any necessary steps.”

    It’s not as reassuring as he feels the Engineer meant it to be, and he’s unsurprised when Jack’s tail jerks and tightens, almost bruising now, and he has a feeling that if he could see his partner’s eyes, the pupils would be narrowing to slits. He opens his mouth, wanting to comfort or reassure, but the words won’t come, because he’s just as anxious, and he shivers, feeling the skin on his back beginning to split apart as his control wavers. _Not here._ He’s unaware of closing his eyes, trying not to focus on anything but the feel of Jack’s tail on his wrist and taking deep, shuddering breaths.

_We’re going home. We’re going home. We’re going home._

“…yes? Reyes?” It takes him a moment to realise that someone is saying his name. His last name and he stiffens, flight or fight turning towards the latter, and his eyes fly open, ready to protect Jack. Only to blink as he realises, they’re still on the shuttle, and that it’s still shuddering, waiting for lift-off, and that the voice is coming from the communications screen. “Reyes, can you answer me?” It’s formal, but not in the way the Scientists had been – they had been distancing themselves from his humanity and the reality of what they were doing, whereas, this was softer, almost cautious. As though the speaker knows just how close to the edge they are, and maybe she does remember. Because Captain Amari had been his primary contact once her higherups had tired of talking to him, finding a way through his barriers in a way that should have been alarming but had just been a relief after dealing with one too many bureaucrats.

“We’re here…”

“We’re going to bring you home safely,” Ana murmurs, losing the formality for a moment, and it’s what he needs to hear right then because there isn’t a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “I promise.” It echoes what he’d said to Jack earlier, and he hadn’t realised how much he’d needed to hear it too until she said it, taking another deep breath.

“I know,” he manages to match her tone, realising that it’s easier to believe her than it is his own hopes as he glances at Jack. His partner isn’t looking at him, eyes still squeezed shut, but it’s clear that he’s listening, head tilted towards Gabriel, and his tail has stilled again although the tip is still twitching. He’s still unsettled, but he doesn’t seem to be heading into a meltdown and Gabriel will take what he can get, forcing himself to let go with the arm that Jack’s not holding, so that he can wrap his fingers around the twitching tail. “We believe you.” Jack’s tail jolts at his words, but he doesn’t protest, and he takes that as a good sign or at least that it’s more than half-true.

     There’s a quiet conversation on the other end of the communications, and Gabriel manages to catch enough of it to understand that Ana is cautioning Torbjörn to be a bit less pessimistic, relieved that she can’t see the face he pulls when she points out that they’ve been through enough. Still, the warning seems to have worked, because the Engineer is a little less gruff when he comes back on the line.

“We’re going to initiate lift-off in one minute.”

“Okay…” Gabriel nods, then remembers that they can’t see him and lets his head fall against his chest as he takes a deep breath, feeling the shuddering beginning to intensify. “Here we go, Jack,” he whispers, stroking the tail soothingly. “Hold on as tightly as you need.” The grip is already bruising, but he can take a lot more. Will take a lot more, as long as it means that Jack doesn’t panic all by himself while Gabriel can’t physically move closer to him.

     The shuddering is intensifying, the rumble of the engines becoming a roar and he is unsurprised when Jack’s grip immediately tightens, the noise playing havoc with his sensitive senses. _It’s okay. You’re okay. We’re going to be okay,_ he wants to say, but he knows that his words would be lost in the roar of the engine, and all he can do is let Jack hold on and run his fingers over the tip.

_We’re going to be okay._

    It’s a reminder he needs as Torbjörn says something, the words breaking up and lost in the roar of the engines and the dull clanking of metal moving away as the docking bay releases them. For a terrifying moment, it feels like they’re falling, as the craft shudders and drops out of the docking bay and into space, and he can’t stop himself from squeezing his eyes shut. _Please._ His stomach feels like it is still hovering somewhere in his chest, the hands not busy with Jack’s tail, gripping the seat tightly, as the noise of the engines ratchets up another notch, and the shuddering intensifies as the thrusters stabilise them.

“…Lift-off was successful… controls still green…” Torbjörn’s voice comes through, still somewhat patchy, but much more cheerful than before, and Gabriel makes some kind of acknowledgement in the back of his throat.

    It’s only when the shuddering settles a little, and he feels them beginning to move forward that he manages to coax his eyes open. Wanting, needing to see. The shuttle offers panoramic views through various portals and taking a deep breath he forces himself to twist his head so that he can look back towards the space station now lying in their wake. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, especially after so long spent inside it, but it’s…disappointing. Some distant part of his mind can acknowledge that it’s a magnificent feat of engineering, much larger than he’d expected, sleek and elegant against the backdrop of space.

It doesn’t look like somewhere that could have contained such nightmares.

    His stomach rolls and he can feel his skin threatening to split further, and he wrenches his head around, tearing his gaze away before it becomes too much.

And his breath catches.

    Because now that he’s looking away, he can see Earthrise… they’d seen it before, from the ports on the station, but this is different. They’re moving towards it this time, and they’re going home. It’s no longer a distant image that tugs at their soul, but their destination, their hope and he can’t breathe, because it’s beautiful. The colours seem especially vivid today, perhaps because of it what it represents and seeing the azure and viridian planet coming into clearer view, filling his vision, his world, he’s reminded vividly of how it had felt when he had found Jack. Like colour had just come rushing back into his world after too long in the darkness, and he can’t help but turn his head to look at Jack, startled to find his partner looking back at him.

    The too-blue eyes are fixed on him, and there’s the faintest echo of a smile on pale lips, offering him a glimpse of blue gums and far too many teeth. He doesn’t care. Just as he doesn’t care about the brutal grip that Jack still has on his wrist, because like this, Jack is breath-taking. He’s changed, almost beyond recognition he knows that most people would argue, and he’s still teetering on the edge of being feral, eyes narrow and pupils catlike at the moment. But he’s here. He’s alive. He’s smiling. A sight that he had started to feel that he wouldn’t see again.

And, somehow the Earth no longer seems as impressive in comparison.


	2. Chapter 1

_“…today has seen more scenes of unrest outside the U.N. as people demand answers about the recent reports about human experimentation that have shocked the global community.”_

“V-volume off.” Gabriel was glad that the waver in his voice didn’t stop the screen from reacting to his command, muting the rest of the report as he stared at the holoscreen. His coffee sitting abandoned in front of him as he gripped the edge of the counter with all four hands, tension in every line of his body as the camera zoomed in on the hundreds of people gathered outside the main U.N. building. It was across the world from their current location, but it still left him feeling sick to his stomach as he saw more than one of the placards demanding that the ‘Freaks be shown to the world’ or ‘Show us the proof’. Unaware of the low growl building in the back of his throat, as the camera panned in the other direction, and he realised that the number of signs had increased over the last few days. As though amidst the lack of answers, the public had decided to turn their ire towards him and Jack instead, turning a search for answers into the start of a witch hunt.

They were safe here.

   He knew that. Believed that, and not just because Captain Amari had promised him – something that he was learning not to take lightly as she was a woman of her word. And they – the newly formed Overwatch, whose creation was another facet of the breaking news story garnering international interest- had taken great pains to move Jack and Gabriel, while everyone’s attention was riveted on the developing news story. He knew that, and yet he was still on edge. It didn’t help that he knew that people were aware of their presence, although so far, only the news that they had been ‘rescued’ and brought back to Earth and were ‘recovering from their ordeal’ had made it to the media. That was just the start of it, though, he knew that eventually, they were going to have to face the world. To face the reactions of complete strangers, that had no investment in their wellbeing or their happiness… and he was terrified.

“…Gabriel?”

      He had always been difficult to sneak up on. It came from being the youngest of three, with two older sisters who had always wanted to ‘play’ or rather torment him and had never fully left him, and with his new ‘developments’ it was practically impossible. However, today he swung around with an alarmed cry, arms up and braced for an attack, mist rising around him clouds as he found himself trapped between fight or flight, and leaning more towards the latter, with the fear that had already been churning in the pit of his stomach. The back of his shoulder itched, the skin threatening to break apart as it always did whenever his emotions got the better of him, but it was forgotten as he found himself staring into wide blue eyes.

“Jack…” He croaked, still on edge, only to soften as he realised that Jack’s tail had curled around his partner’s thigh and was quivering lightly. “It’s okay, you just startled me, that’s all.” He took a deep breath, wishing that it was as easy to reassure himself as it was to reassure Jack, before slowly letting his arms fall back to his side. “Come here,” he pleaded, realising that Jack hadn’t moved, although his tail had unfurled a little. At his invitation, Jack crossed the distance between them, claws tapping against the floor as he hadn’t bothered to dress when coming to track Gabriel down, and they both winced at the sound. Neither of them used to it yet, remembering how they had always padded around, almost silent on lazy mornings and Gabriel could see Jack faltering and moved to meet him, drawing him into a tight hug.

     That was one of the very few benefits of his physical changes, Gabriel thought, as he wrapped all four arms around Jack. He could hold his partner better, almost Kraken-like with how tightly he wrapped himself around the other man, needing the comfort as much as he needs to settle Jack’s agitated nerves. Leaving three still curled around Jack, he let the other shift, brushing lightly over the iridescent scales that spread out around the ridge of spikes that ran the length of Jack’s back and down to his tail. He avoided the spines, as neither of them needed that kind of excitement at the moment, but he had long since discovered that Jack liked it when he touched his scales, especially as he never hesitated as skin gave way to the harder, less human surface, Jack practically melting under his ministrations.

     He relaxed for a moment, pushing his nose into Gabriel’s shoulder and then tensing a little, nudging at him slightly before lifting his head to look at him with the too-blue eyes that Gabriel loved so much, even when the pupils started to narrow as they were now. “You’re scared…” It wasn’t a question despite the hesitant way it was phrased, and Gabriel bit back a sigh. He’d forgotten just how keen Jack’s sense of smell was these days, but while he hadn’t planned on disclosing his fears to Jack, not wanting to put him on edge too, he wouldn’t lie to him.

“I was watching the news.”

    Jack growled at that. He had tried once to watch the news since they’d been released into these quarters, and the sofa in the rooms they had been ‘given’ hadn’t survived the encounter. It hadn’t even been a bad report, but just hearing the innocent questions, voiced by people that had no idea of the true horrors of what had been done to them had pushed Jack over the edge. It had taken him hours to calm down, and Gabriel had taken several nasty wounds during that time, not that you could tell that now, the injuries already healing before Jack had even calmed down. He felt them itch now though, or maybe that was just because his skin was still threatening to split, even with Jack’s soothing warmth in his arms.

“What did they say?”

“Nothing about us,” Gabriel was quick to reassure him, feeling the tip of Jack’s tail lashing against the side of his leg, and wanting to stave off a possible outburst. It had taken Jack a couple of days, to come out of the gloom from his last one. In fact, now that he thought about it, this was the first time that Jack had come to him so willingly since that outburst, always wary in the aftermath, no matter how often Gabriel reassured him. It made his arms tighten around the other man, lips quirking, as Jack returned the gesture, tail curling carefully around his leg, mindful not to scrape him with the spines down the middle. “It just reminded me that we’ve got a long way to go.”

     That wasn’t quite the whole truth he realised, biting back a sigh, and lifted his head to glance across at the holoscreen that was still playing the news, grimacing as he realised that they were still on the same topic. _A really long way to go,_ he realised, remembering his promise to Jack when they’d left the space station, and for once feeling as though it was a weight on his shoulders, and there was an apology on the tip of his tongue when Jack mimicked his sigh. Peering up at him, pupils back to normal, although his tail was twitching again, at odds with the calmness he was aiming for as he spoke.

“We’re alive. We’re safe. We’re h….”

“It’s all right, you don’t have to say it,” Gabriel smiled a little, stroking the scaled back soothingly. It had been a surprise to hear some of the words he had used on Jack during previous outbursts being parroted back at him, although it was strangely reassuring to hear Jack repeat them because it meant that his partner had heard the words. That he had taken them on board, even if he still didn’t entirely believe him. It wasn’t such a surprise to hear Jack falter when he tried to say ‘we’re home’, especially as he found himself increasingly aware of the fact that it wasn’t going to be that easy. “This isn’t home.” He admitted aloud for the first time, glancing around the small set of rooms that they were in, before looking down at Jack and pressing a kiss to a pale forehead. “It’s just another stepping stone.”

     They remain like that for a while, not in a hurry to let one another go, and Gabriel wonders if they will ever lose the renewed novelty of just being able to hold one another. It was something that he had thought long lost before he’d found Jack again, and while Jack hadn’t said as much, he had harboured similar fears…as well as the fear that Gabriel would push him away when he saw the changes he had undergone. Privately he hopes that they never lose this because he doesn’t want to take it for granted. He had taken Jack for granted before. Expected to spend every day coming home to Jack, and that had been snatched away, shattered the moment that his partner had been taken.

    Eventually, he can feel Jack becoming restless in his arms, and he immediately loosened his tight hold, not wanting Jack to feel trapped, although he feels strangely bereft when Jack stepped out of the circle of his arms, taking the offered escape. At least until there was a quick movement, and Jack’s tail whipped out, wrapping the tip loosely around his wrist. Jack’s own version of a hug when he wasn’t quite in the mood for more. To Gabriel, it felt more intimate, especially when like now Jack did it without hesitation or expectation of rejection, another tiny but remarkable step towards accepting his changed body. A gentle but insistent tug pulled him out of his thoughts, and back to the present, and to the fact that Jack was trying to get him to move, pulling him back towards the bedroom and their nest.

He doesn’t resist.

    He spares a last glance at the holoscreen, but he knows that the news will still be there later. That their story and the questions are still going to be the centre of attention for days, possibly weeks or longer. Just as he knows that the terror, the cold weight in the pit of his stomach that hasn’t eased even with Jack’s presence and attempt at reassurance, is not going to abate until those questions are answered. Until he knows for sure what the world is going to make of them. What their families are going to make of them because that is a hurdle they’ve not even contemplated yet. It’s easier to focus on the feel of Jack’s tail around his wrist, to turn and meet too-blue eyes, and see the faintest of smiles – too toothy, but oh so warm and all the more precious these days, and to follow Jack as he leads the way back to their nest.

****

        It was a couple of hours later when Gabriel found himself stirring in the middle of their nest. Grumbling under his breath as something shifted against his side, tickling his skin, swatting at it with the arms that aren’t currently buried beneath his partner’s warm weight, only to come up short as something slithers between the fingers of one hand.  A low huff of laughter building in his throat, as he stills, letting it tangle with his fingers for a few seconds before slowly opening his eyes. He’s unsurprised to find Jack’s tail wrapped around his fingers, a slow smile spreading across his lips, as he traces the length of it with it his eyes, bringing his other arm up to play with the tip as it flicks against his palm, as he let his gaze rove higher. As usual, Jack had managed to push himself out from under the covers during the night, sprawled out next to him on his stomach. Scaled back exposed to the air and he admires the sight, before reaching out with one of his free arms to run a gentle finger down the row of spines that runs down the centre of Jack’s back to the middle of his tail.

      For most people, the touch would be too light to be felt, but the spines are sensitive, and Jack stirs immediately with a purr building in the back of his throat, tail tightening around Gabe’s hand. Slowly Jack shifted, tilting his head to peer up at him through too-blue eyes, pupils wide, showing that for once he’s not the slightest bit on edge. It’s an unexpected sight, and rare, especially considering their conversation that morning. However, Jack is still purring, back arching into the sensation of Gabriel’s finger against his spine, and he decides not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Good morning,” Gabriel murmured finally, endlessly fond, moving forward to kiss him, the tail loosening enough to allow him that movement. Jack whispering back a greeting, still somewhat reluctant to speak more than necessary, struggling to adapt to the change in his voice, apparently having used up his words for the day when trying to reassure him earlier. The kiss is light and chaste, neither of them ready for more just yet, and just like the embrace earlier, Gabriel finds him savouring it, and hoping that they never lose these moments. “Ready to get up?” It’s not as though they have much to do at the moment. They had been ordered to rest after the medical exam they’d had to endure upon being extracted from the shuttle after it had landed – and hadn’t that been an experience and a half – and as far as he knew they didn’t have any meetings, interviews or anything else that they were expected to do.

     They also had nowhere to go.  Well, that wasn’t strictly true, as Ana had told them that they were welcome to explore the area of the base where their rooms were located. Had even encouraged them to make use of the public areas, but it was daunting. Here in their rooms, they could at least pretend they were normal – as long as they didn’t look in the mirror – but outside meant facing other people, and seeing their eyes widen with alarm or worse. Gabriel had ventured out a couple of times beyond the necessary trips for meetings, and every time it had left an itch between his shoulder blades, a feeling of being watched that had made him feel as though he had never left the labs. Jack, on the other hand, had to be coaxed, blackmailed and more often than not dragged by Gabriel to even set foot outside the door for necessary reasons. Not that he could blame him.

     Jack grumbled and shook his head at the question, curling against his chest, and Gabriel grinned and continued to tease his spines, willing to give into the silent demand to remain where they were. There was safety here in their nest. The once neat bed, now covered in an assortment of materials – the one thing that they had been very insistent on when asked what they wanted to make the rooms more comfortable, both pretending not to notice the way notes had been scribbled at that point. He wrinkled his nose at the memory, blinking when Jack leaned up and nudged his nose with his head, so wonderfully cat-like in that moment that it startled a chuckle out of Gabriel.

    Laughter that ended abruptly a moment later when there was a sharp knock at the front door to their quarters. It was loud and impatient, nothing like the gentle knocks that Ana and those that worked with her used when coming to see them, and Gabriel was immediately alert as Jack went rigid against him, a snarl on his lips. “Easy,” Gabriel soothed, gently pushing Jack off him so that he could slip out of bed, pausing long enough to make sure he was decent, before heading for the door and carefully weaving out of the path of Jack’s tail as the other man tried to stop him from leaving. “I’ll be right back.”

    He hoped that Jack wouldn’t notice the mist that rose from him with each step he took or the tension in his shoulders, all four fists clenched. Maybe it was the lingering terror from that morning, the realisation that they were a long way from the ‘home’ he had promised Jack, but he felt on edge and threatened even in this space that was supposed to be theirs. It didn’t help that whoever was at their door had apparently not had lessons in patience, because they were knocking again, louder this time and Gabriel was struck by the sudden thought that maybe the danger he’d seen in that news report had come to their door. Part of him didn’t want to believe that was possible, because, despite the situation and the obvious strangeness of their appearance, they had been well treated in the days that they had been here. However, another part of him couldn’t help but remember the empty house when Jack had been taken, or his own terror when he had been snatched in the middle of handing out more fliers about his missing partner, and he felt his nails lengthening and curling into claws, ready to fight if anyone tried for a repeat of that.

    He had wound himself he realised by the time he had reached the door, but there was nothing he could do about that now, and he couldn’t stop himself from wrenching the door open, braced for an attack. It didn’t come, and he blinked, suddenly aware of the extra eyes blinking – mercifully hidden under the carefully adapted t-shirt he had been wearing to sleep in, grimacing as he realised just how on edge, he had let himself get, before turning his attention to their visitors.

He didn’t know them.

    Well no, that wasn’t wholly true he realised, eyes narrowing as he studied the man who had clearly been the impatient knocker, taking in the pristine suit, clearly tailor-made and expensive. He recognised this man, although he knew they had never spoken, and it was only when he spotted the Insignia carefully stitched onto the pocket that he realised who he was.

“Director.” He murmured, polite but not welcoming because there was something in the man’s eyes that made him uneasy. It wasn’t like the alarm and fear he had seen in other people’s eyes when they’d first seen him or Jack – like in the eyes of the two men who were accompanying him. It was cold and calculating, weighing up his worth as he stood there, his arms still tense and braced for danger, intensely aware that he wasn’t entirely human anymore under the weight of that gaze. “What can I do for you?” He forced himself to ask. Beginning to understand why Ana had been so careful to steer them away from this man when they’d seen him the day they’d arrived and wishing that she was here now.

    Especially when Petras stepped forward, forcing Gabriel to either backup and allow him inside, or be bowled over. It was tempting to hold his ground, and he was overcome by the desire to keep him as far away from Jack as possible, but he knew that this wasn’t the kind of man they could afford to alienate, and so he moved back. Retreating into the middle of the living area, eyes never leaving the man, even as he detected movement out of the corner of his eye, realising with a brief flicker of panic that Jack had come to see what was happening. “We have guests.” He wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions anymore, hearing the bite in his voice on that last word as he risked a glance towards Jack, unsurprised to see his partner’s tail beginning to lash behind him. “So, what can we do for you, Director?” He turned back to Petras, this time deliberately biting as he still hadn’t received an answer to his earlier question.

“I assume that you’ve seen the news?” Petras asked, eyes flicking towards the holoscreen that was still playing silently in the corner, and Gabriel nodded but refused to speak. “I have decided that it is in everyone’s best interests that we move forward your reintroduction to the general public, as the secrecy is only causing more…questions.” _Issues,_ Gabriel heard the unspoken word, and his eyes narrowed further. He had dealt with men like Petras in his old job, had learned to read between the lines to hear what they were really saying, and in that instant he knew that this ‘concern’ wasn’t for them, or for what the public wanted, or the questions about what had been done to them in the name of ‘science’. It was about the danger it posed to Petras’ reputation, and the fact that as the cry for answers swelled, it would inevitably end up at his doorstep.

“You’ve decided?” Gabriel echoed, more to buy himself time than anything, carefully inching towards Jack as he heard a low snarl from that direction. “Despite all the promises we had from your people that we would have all the time we needed? And the fact that the people responsible have yet to be caught?” Gabriel wasn’t particularly worried about the latter. He had taken care of many of those on the station, at least those that Jack hadn’t got to once he’d been released, and any that remained free on Earth was hardly going to be a threat against them in their current forms. If they even got a chance to get to them, because Ana was working hard to find them, but it served a point to raise it here, and he saw colour spots rise in Petras’ cheeks. “Why should we give them anything, when we haven’t had any answers either?”

     He had reached Jack now, alarmed to see just how fast his partner’s tail was whipping from side to side now, and the narrowing of his pupils. Ignoring their audience, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Jack, feeling how badly he was quivering and holding back a curse. It had already been a stressful few days, and they were only just on the other side of Jack’s last outburst, but he didn’t need the second snarl to know that they were teetering on the edge of another one, and his grip tightened. He couldn’t blame Jack, but he had a feeling that Petras with his cold, calculating gaze was the last person that they wanted to witness that particular weakness, and he brushed his fingers over Jack’s skin as soothingly as he could.

 A silent plea for him to hold on just a little longer.


	3. Chapter 2

It was a stalemate.

     Apparently, Petras wasn’t used to people not immediately bowing to his demands, and Gabriel might have found a perverse pleasure in introducing him to the experience, were it not for the fact that his attention was riveted on Jack. So far, his touch had been enough to keep Jack grounded in the present, but he knew that would only work for so long, and he was torn, not knowing what to do to diffuse the situation before it spiralled completely out of control. They couldn’t afford to antagonise someone like Petras, and he was already pushing the boundaries of what he could get away with, the other man almost vibrating with overly indignant anger. Although he knew that if push came to shove, he would choose Jack. He would always choose Jack. He just hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, although as Jack snarled again, the sound vibrating beneath his hands, he thought that it might be a lost cause, especially when he saw Petras’ companions’ hands reaching for their holstered weapons.

    He opened his mouth, not sure what he was planning on saying, but hoping that he could find the right words before it came to blows. The last thing they needed to do right now was give these people a clear idea of what they were capable of, his skin itching, as more eyes appeared, scattered across his back. However, before he had time to say anything, there was the sound of hurried footsteps, heading towards their rooms, and belatedly he realised that the door was still open and he moved, shifting to hide Jack from view in case it was reinforcements for Petras’ side.

It wasn’t.

    Instead several agents in the distinctive blue of the new Overwatch uniforms appeared in the doorway, two of them that Gabriel vaguely recognised from previous escorts – remembering that they were ones that hadn’t flinched away from their ‘strange’ charges at all, stepping into the room, as though to clear a path for the furious woman in their wake. Captain Amari had been a force of nature since Gabriel’s first conversation with her over a shaky communication link on a space station, but right now, he realised that he’d never really seen her like this, her eye blazing with unbridled fury although it softened a little as she met his gaze.

“Director Petras.” It was polite, even respectful, none of her anger bleeding through into her face and yet it was clear to all of those in the room, that it was meant to be anything but. “Would you please step outside with me for a moment? I believe we have something to discuss.” Again, perfectly polite, and yet Gabriel had no doubt at all that it wasn’t a suggestion. However, there was a moment when he thought Petras was going to put his foot down, especially as there was an almost hungry edge to the glare he levelled in their direction. However, a glance at Ana and the agents around her seemed to make him hesitate, and after a moment he nodded, just a tiny incline of his head, an attempt to salvage his control of the situation.

“Of course, Captain.” It was a pointed reminder of her place, and his gaze lingered a moment too long as he looked towards Gabriel and Jack again, noting the way that Gabriel was all but holding Jack in place now, muscles bunched in readiness for his partner trying to lunge at the ‘threat’. “We will continue this discussion later.” Gabriel nodded, more because he didn’t know what else to do. He just hoped that before then they would have either got Jack to a place where he wasn’t ready to kill the man or where they would have some weapons of their own to keep him at bay.

    His apparent agreement seemed to be enough, as Petras and his people were finally moving towards the door, carefully shepherded by Ana’s agents, while Ana herself moved towards them.

“I’m sorry about that, I had hoped to head him off,” Ana murmured as soon as she was sure that Petras was out of hearing ranging, carefully stopping a short distance away, and spreading her arms to show that she wasn’t a threat as she got a good look at the state Jack was in.  “Is he okay?” Gabriel searched her expression and voice for any sign of fear or judgement because this was what he had feared – the rest of the world seeing Jack at his worst, and turning against them, but there was nothing but concern in her gaze.

“You need to leave,” Gabriel replied, offering her a tense smile to offset his words, but quietly insistent as he felt Jack’s quivering intensifying by the second. He was proud of Jack for trying to rein it in and managing to hold it back as long as he had, but he could tell that Jack was reaching the end of his admittedly limited control. Could feel the muscles swelling beneath his touch, and he knew that if he could see Jack’s eyes, the pupils would be cat-like at best, if not wholly reduced to barely visible slits. “Please,” he added belatedly, not wanting to antagonise or alienate her, fingers tightening as Jack snarled under his breath, apparently taking exception, whether to the continued conversation or the plea.

“Of course,” Ana murmured, taking a deliberate step backwards and then another, before adding softly. “I will leave someone to guard the entrance to make sure that you are not disturbed again. If you need anything, let them know.” Gabriel nodded; all he could manage at that moment as Jack’s body swelled beneath his fingertips, loosening his grip, just in time for Jack to lunge forward with a snarl.

     There was no way Gabriel could let him hurt one of the few people who was truly on their side, and he knew that Jack. His Jack, the one that would still appear in quiet moments, wouldn’t want to hurt her either, and so he lunged forward, grabbing Jack’s tail with all four hands and hauling him backwards, as Ana took her cue and retreated swiftly through the door. Jack screeched as he was yanked backwards, whirling to lash at him with elongated claws, and giving Gabriel a clear view of his eyes, which were oceans of blue now, the pupil all but invisible. It was the expression of a monster, at least that was what most people would think looking at him, for Gabriel, it was still Jack. It would always be Jack, and that was reflected in his quiet murmur as he easily side-stepped the wild swipe, releasing Jack’s tender tail now that the door was closed and everyone else was out of sight.

“Jack…” He murmured. “It’s okay now, we’re safe.” Usually, it would be ‘you’re safe’, but he knew that part of the reason Jack’s control had slipped so quickly, had been that the threat in Petras’ words had been aimed at both of them. There was a pause, Jack blinking at him, before growling deep in his throat as he bared his teeth at him, jaws fully extended so that he couldn’t miss the rows of azure teeth, the sight arresting for a moment. And it was only the bunching of Jack’s increased musculature that warned him of the attack to come. He didn’t bother trying to dodge, knowing that Jack would misread that as a sign of aggression and that it would exacerbate the situation, instead he took the lunge, letting Jack’s weight bear them both down to the ground, praying that the resulting crash wouldn’t bring some well-meaning agent back into their rooms.

    Jack’s claws sliced deeply into his skin, but even as he hissed out a curse, he could feel his body beginning to regenerate and repair the damage. He doubted he would ever get used to the sensation, but at least it meant that he could take these moments, without becoming another life on Jack’s conscience, and he swallowed back a second louder curse as the claws pressed deeper. That soon proved to be the least of his concerns as Jack’s teeth snapped shut just an inch from his nose, and he had to throw up an arm now to protect his vulnerable neck, not wanting to test just how good those regenerative abilities were. “Jack, this isn’t you,” he murmured, even as teeth grazed his arms. He knew that most people would think him mad for saying that, but he meant it with all of his heart and for a second Jack seemed to falter. “That’s it Sunshine, time to calm down and come back to me.”

     A line of fire opened up across his face, as distracted with keeping the deadly teeth at bay, he had forgotten about Jack’s tail. What had been a soothing, almost feline feature not long before, was now a deadly weapon, as tiny barbs had risen around the tip, turning it into a spiked mace that had just whipped across his face. Warmth covered the lower half of his face, and he grimaced as his enhanced sense of smell was assailed with copper and iron, and he immediately closed his mouth, not wanting to risk his own temper surging to the front at the taste of blood. Nothing would survive this encounter if that happened, and he wasn’t willing to see what Ana would do if they both lost control.  The skin was already knitting back together, a tug and pull, that reminded him of how it had felt to get stitches when he’d fallen out of the treehouse as a child, and he grimaced.

     Jack abruptly sprang back with a snarl that seemed to fill their rooms, and Gabriel cautiously pushed himself up onto his elbows, two arms ready to catch a secondary attack. However, Jack seemed to barely be paying attention to him now, pacing uneasily, snapping at the air, his tail a blur of movement behind him. To the uninitiated, it would have looked almost as though he was fighting the air, but Gabriel spat out a curse and clambered to his feet, taking his time to swipe at his face, trying to clear away as much of the blood as possible. His face was still sensitive to the touch, but already the cut had shrunk, and he knew that in a matter of moments all that would remain would be a livid line, with clouds of mist rising from its depth. However, he couldn’t wait that long, because Jack’s agitation was growing, and he winced as the sofa took a hefty swipe, Jack’s claws making short work of the material.

“Jack!” He shouted, not caring that the people outside would here. Jack needed to hear his name right now, to be reminded that he was no longer a nameless test subject because that was where his mind had taken him. Between Petras’ words, Gabriel’s own uneasiness from earlier, and the smell of Gabriel’s blood, Jack’s mind had gone back to the labs, turning what had been an outburst fuelled by protective fury and fear, into one of mindless terror. Those were the most dangerous sort, because Jack’s mind retreated completely at those times, as he tried to protect himself from the same hurt that had made him like this in the first place. Which made it a thousand times harder for Gabriel to reach him.

    The last time he had been this bad, they had still been on the station, and in the end, Gabriel had been forced to seal him into a separate chamber and leave him to exhaust himself trying to escape, before managing to draw him back to himself. He still hadn’t forgiven himself for that, because Jack had been skittish around him for days afterwards. It wasn’t even an option here though, because the flimsy walls of their rooms would never hold up to Jack’s frenzied efforts to escape, which meant that he had to get through to Jack here and now before he got it into his head to try and bolt from their rooms. Not wanting to imagine how the armed agents around them would react if that happened, let alone what could happen if Petras was still close enough to witness this mess.

    He didn’t give Jack any warning, because even as far gone as this, his reactions were lightning quick, and he knew that he would only get one chance to make this work. His body shifted. The stress of the encounter with Petras, and now Jack’s outburst, more than enough to see his form disintegrating as he charged at Jack. Mist clouded his vision, but it didn’t hinder him, as his skin split in a dozen places, and crimson eyes peered out from within the open wounds, offering him an omnidirectional view of the world. He wasn’t on just his legs anymore, bounding in alien, semi-crouched lollop with all four arms propelling him forward, as a growl that was pure instinct rumbled in his throat.

    Jack’s tail lashed out as he turned to face the threat, but this time it didn’t find flesh, as Gabriel’s body shifted for a second, flesh giving way to mist as the barbed end swept through it, before solidifying once the threat had moved past. Then he was on Jack. Semi-solid, he wrapped his partly wraith form around Jack, holding on tight as Jack let out a furious shriek as he found himself trapped. Telling himself that it had to be done, even as Jack screeched at him, swiping and snapping, as his tail lashed at the new threat. He was quivering. Fury quickly giving way to fear as he realised that he couldn’t escape as Gabriel clung on for dear life, trying not to pay attention to the tendrils of smoke that drifted away with each wild attack.

It felt like it lasted a lifetime.

    Jack drawing on the wild, inhuman strength that flooded him when he lost control, as he tore and bit at Gabriel, occasionally managing to land a blow on solid flesh, leaving deep gouges in his wake, but more often finding mist. One particularly nasty blow had taken out one of the eyes that opened across his shoulders, and Gabriel could still feel the echo of that blow, feeling strangely off-kilter as his body tried to regenerate it, even though it hadn’t limited his sight in the slightest. However, he could feel the regeneration beginning to flag a little, overwhelmed by the amount of damage it was being forced to contend with in a short space of time, and he was just beginning to think that maybe this was more than he could handle when Jack went limp in his grasp.

    Gabriel knew better than to release him straight away. He’d done that the first time, and very nearly lost his throat to a wild bite, and so he held on tight, even as he began to gather himself for the effort of putting his body back together. Today though there was no wild bite, and no attempt to slip free as he slowly, cautiously eased his grip a little. “Jack?” There was no response, which wasn’t unexpected as he knew that he would be lucky to get any words out of him for at least the rest of the day, if not longer. Still, it made him hesitate a little while longer, because while Jack was seemingly pliant in his arms now, he was still in his shifted form, bulked up muscles just waiting to lash out.

     Slowly. Piece by piece, he drew himself back together. And it felt like he was being attacked by thousands of ants, as skin formed where there had only been smoke and mist a moment ago, and he was unable to entirely subdue a quiet noise of distress, as one by one the eyes, began to seal themselves shut. His skin itched where they had been, and his fingers twitched, longing to reach out and tear at those spots. He’d done it the first time they’d appeared, terrified and furious at what had been done to him, and desperate to tear the aberrations out of his skin. He had nearly bled out instead, forgetting in his desperation just how long and sharp his claws were.

    Mercifully before he could give in to the temptation to scratch at them, Jack shifted in his arms, not attacking, but slumping against him, nearly boneless in his grasp now. It signalled the end of the outburst. Because as strong as he could become during these moments, it seemed to drain his energy completely, his entire body being used to fuel the outburst, leaving him helpless in the aftermath. It terrified Gabriel to think about how that might have been used if Jack had remained in their captor’s grasp, because his broken mind, meant that his use would have lain in his strength and he couldn’t imagine those…monsters, caring about the cost. It made his grip tighten, protective and possessive all at once, and finally drew an exhausted, questioning noise from Jack. “Sorry,” he murmured, deliberately loosening his grip, knowing that right about now Jack’s body was beginning to ache and burn from the exertion he’d put it through. “Let’s get you back to bed, all right?”

    He waited a moment, letting his words penetrate the haze that had taken Jack’s thoughts, not expecting an answer. Therefore, he was surprised when Jack’s tail rose to wrap briefly around his wrist, the tip smooth once more, before falling away again, as though even that was too much effort right then. It probably was. Ignoring the itch and burn of his still healing body, he took that as permission and lifted Jack. It was harder than usual, as he was larger and heavier than normal, but Jack didn’t fight him in the slightest, and Gabriel would be damned if he dropped him now. 

*

    In their room, he carefully settled Jack in the middle of their nest, relieved that he was slowly beginning to shift back to his normal size, even as his partner curled up in the centre of the bed, blinking up at him with too-blue eyes. The pupils were back to normal, but there was a blankness seeping in now that worried him for all that he had expected it. Jack hated these outbursts as much as he did, terrified of what he might do one day, and as the adrenaline fled and his body returned to normal, or what passed for normal nowadays he was retreating into himself. “This wasn’t your fault, Jack,” he murmured, trying to hold the gaze that was beginning to drift. He knew that Jack didn’t agree, unsurprised to see the tip of his tail starting to twitch in agitation, but safe in the knowledge that he was too tired to do anything more than that. Still, he didn’t push the issue, reaching up to cup one pale cheek, tracing the path of the elongated jawline, now hiding the rows of jagged teeth from sight. “Rest.”

     Jack fought valiantly, even opening his mouth a couple of times as though to try and say something, but each time the words seemed to flee him at the last moment. That was okay, Gabriel knew better than to expect him to talk just yet, although he clung to the hope that one day he would be able to get to that point. For now, he remained sitting on the edge of the bed, thumb lightly brushing back and forth across Jack’s jaw, trying to lose himself in that sensation and the sight of Jack’s eyes growing heavier and heavier, rather than focusing on the feel of his body still working to heal the wounds that Jack had managed to inflict. The itching would linger for a couple of days, but he knew that by the time Jack woke from the nap he was losing ground against, the last of the open gouges would be long sealed.

    It was scant comfort, but it was all that he had as he watched Jack finally succumb to exhaustion, leaning unconsciously into his touch in a way that he hadn’t allowed himself to do when he was awake. Because this was bad. Not just because of Petras being able to witness the start of this meltdown – because Gabriel could and would deal with him if he became a real threat to Jack, something that he would have hesitated about once. Back before the station. Before he had thought that he had lost Jack and been granted the miracle of getting him back. No, what made it worse, and had a leaden weight sinking into the pit of his stomach as he watched Jack sleep, tail still twitching, was that this felt like a huge step backwards. Back towards the feral ghost of his partner that he had first found in the labs.

    Only now they didn’t have the protection of isolation. And as much as Gabriel wanted to argue against what Petras had been saying, he knew that eventually, they would have to branch out beyond these rooms, and the people that Ana had trusted to be around them so far. They needed to reach out to their families. They needed to reach out to the world they had once called home. Otherwise, they would never truly get to go home, and even now, assailed by his own doubts and fears, and the aftermath of Jack’s outburst, he wanted to keep that promise.

He wanted to take Jack home.

 


	4. Chapter 3

   Gabriel had waited until he was sure that Jack was deeply asleep before cautiously standing up, not wanting to disturb him. However, he was careful to pile the covers high over his sleeping partner, knowing that his body temperature tended to plummet in the aftermath of an outburst like this, and not wanting to risk Jack falling ill on top of everything else that was happening. Not least because that would mean dealing with another trip to the infirmary, which was certainly out of the question if Jack was slipping back into old habits. Their first visit, just after they had been retrieved from the shuttle after it had splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico had been enough of a catastrophe,

_They were back on Earth._

_Someone must have been watching over them, either that or the fates had decided that they’d suffered enough because the descent had been without the slightest hitch, although Gabriel had decided that he never wanted to make that trip again. At least the first time, he had been unconscious and hadn’t been aware of the terrifying shuddering and light of passing through the atmosphere. This time he had been preoccupied with keeping Jack calm, because the noise and light had agitated his partner, sending him careening towards an episode. It had taken every plea and reassurance he had at his disposal to keep Jack in his seat and to stop him from clawing at the restraining seatbelt, his mind transporting him back to a different time and place, and at one point he had felt his wrist crack and shift as Jack’s tail tightened and tightened. The pain had brought a growl to his lips, which hadn’t helped as Jack had thought it was a threat and snarled back, baring his teeth at Gabriel, muscles swelling as his pupils narrowed until they practically disappeared in the endless blue._

_In the end, it had been the impact of the shuttle coming down in the water, rocking them both violently that had shocked Jack back to the present. It hadn’t calmed him though, a low keening noise building in the back of his throat as his eyes darted between Gabriel – wary in a way that hurt – and the door, and then around the shuttle, fear radiating from him. Gabriel hated seeing him like that, but fear was better than lashing out, although it reminded him painfully of the Jack that he had found in the labs and taking a deep breath and ignoring the pain in his wrist he began to run fingers over Jack’s tail._

_“It’s okay, you’re safe, Jack. You’re safe, Sunshine.” He murmured, lapsing into the old nickname, feeling the way Jack’s tail shuddered at the name, smiling slightly. It was another glimpse of the old Jack because he had always melted to that nickname. “That’s it Sunshine, just settle down a little, we’re going to be okay.” I hope, he thought, glancing out of the windows. On the left, the view was blocked by the parachutes that had slowed their descent, but on the other side, he could see the ship carefully moving into position beside them. He knew that they were there to retrieve them, recognising the logo on the side of the boat, but suddenly his own breath seemed to catch because this was the unknown._

_Ana had promised to get them back to Earth safely, and she had. But this was after, and Gabriel honestly didn’t know where they went from here, and for a wild moment he desperately wanted to confide his worries in Jack. To tell him that he wasn’t sure what was going to happen to them or how they were supposed to come back from what had happened. Could they go back home? Could he still be Gabriel, with his Sunshine? He honestly didn’t know, and the reality of being back on Earth had brought all those questions and fears roaring to the front of his mind, but he swallowed back the words._

_Because Jack…_

_Jack was damaged. He refused to say that he was broken, refused to listen to the little voice in the back of his mind that said that was precisely what he was. They’d both been through hell, he wouldn’t deny that, but Jack had been through worse. He fervently believed that even though one of the many medical people he’d had to talk with had said that it was different not worse. And so, he buried the doubts and fears behind a calm mask and prayed that time and Ana weren’t going to prove him wrong._

_*_

    _He had managed to keep Jack relatively calm as they were transferred onboard the ship, although there had been a couple of close calls when some of the agents, who clearly hadn’t known fully what to expect had panicked at the sight of them. That had been the first time he’d set eyes on Ana in the flesh, as she had descended on them with a flurry of barked orders before the situation could spiral completely out of control. Not exactly the first impression he’d wanted to make, but as it had stopped Jack from losing control and really giving them a reason to fear them, he wasn’t about to complain, accepting her hand when it was offered and shaking it firmly. Almost amused when her eye had swept over all four arms, wondering if she was going to demand to shake them all, and murmuring an apology when she had reached a handout to Jack in turn and nearly ended up swiped by a clawed hand._

_Even then she had been unruffled, although he knew that she had filed the reaction away. As had the agents who watched as they were shepherded into the shelter of the ship’s main cabin, apart from the curious eyes._

_The journey back to land had been surprisingly smooth, although Jack had been wary of the tight quarters and the strangers around them, his tail constantly lashing the entire way. However, he had kept his own eyes covered, avoiding the extra agitation of the lights aboard the ship, remaining burrowed against Gabriel’s side for the trip. The only sign of just how close he was to losing control being the tight, painful grip he maintained on Gabriel, claws leaving deep furrows in Gabriel’s arm, but that was damage quickly healed, and there was no way he was going to risk worse by pushing him away._

_Ana had already warned him that they would need to undertake a medical examination when they reached their destination, as much for their sake, as for Overwatch’s and as reluctant as he was to face Doctor’s again, he knew that it was necessary. He had done what he could on the station, to make sure that their new bodies were sustained and to try and discover what had been done to them, but he wasn’t a scientist, and much of what he had been able to find had been so far over his head that it was like reading an alien language. Some of that had already been sent down for their people to start making sense of, and he knew that a team was being prepared to go to the station and comb through it for everything he had missed. So, he was almost eager to have someone who did understand sit them down and explain just what had been done to. Almost…because at the same time, he was terrified at the thought of being in something even remotely close to a lab, surrounded by people in white coats again, even if they meant well and he was worried about how Jack was going to react to that._

_He had tried to convey that fear to Ana, and she had seemed understanding enough, leading him to hope that maybe they could get through this unscathed._

_*_

_Which was why he was caught off guard when they were promptly surrounded after being guided onto the dock a few hours later. His attention not on the weapons that had immediately been levelled at them, but rather the men and women who wore their white coats like badges of pride, who were already staring at them with a curiosity and hunger that had his hair standing on end._

_“You are to accompany us to the medical facility immediately.” An older man with salt-and-pepper hair ordered, and there was something in his tone that had Gabriel bristling, and for a moment his vision seemed to waver, the open area of the dock giving way to metal walls and too bright lights. It was Jack’s claws biting into his arm that brought him back to the present, a pain that hadn’t been there back then, and he blinked and moved to cover Jack. His action immediately making Jack growl defensively, his tail begging to lash against the back of his legs as he pressed closer to Gabriel, who immediately spread his arms, both to hold Jack back, but also to shield him as some of the jumpier agents around them went for their weapons. “You will cooperate….”_

_“Not unless you treat us like people,” Gabriel snapped, cutting across his words. Because that was what the tone had reminded him of. It had been the same tone that the scientists had used when speaking to them in the labs, that professional disinterest paired with the sheer certainty of obedience, with no thought to what they might want or think. He knew that this was different. He knew that he just had to wait, and Ana would join them, and hopefully, this would be just a misunderstanding, but he found himself unable to trust that as much as he wanted. Just knowing that neither of them could go back to being treated like that. “We accept the need for a medical examination, but if you think that I will let you near either of us.” The threat in his voice was matched by his body language, as he drew himself up to his full height, bright red eyes resting on each person in turn, before he flicked a glance at Jack who was tensed in place, ready to lunge at the slightest provocation, neither of them leaving any doubt about what they were._

_“You…” The man spluttered, splodges of colour high in his cheeks, and Gabriel had a feeling that he was half a step away from ordering them to be seized and brought along by force, and Jack apparently felt the same, because he was growling louder now, teeth bared in blatant threat._

_“What is going on here?” A new voice entered the fray, cutting over Jack’s furious growls and the alarmed cries of the people trying to contain them, and Gabriel let his gaze move away from Jack and the man in front of him for a second, searching for the possible threat. Blinking at the woman standing a short distance away, eyes flashing as she glared at the scene in front of her, although her expression seemed to soften just a little as she met his gaze. An ally, Gabriel realised just before she straightened once more, speaking in a commanding tone that reminded him of the conversations with Ana, as she turned on the man who was still red-faced with fury. “I told you that under no circumstances were they to be greeted with medical personnel or overwhelmed in any way.”_

_“But…”_

_“Look at them...” Jack snarled and tried to lunge forward at that, no doubt taking offence at Gabriel being included in that statement, and he only just managed to catch the other man, holding him in place before he could actually reach them._

_“Look at it…”_

_Gabriel was the one who snarled at the last one, mist rising around him, feeling his skin threatening to split as he sought out the speaker. Unsurprised to find frightened eyes fixated on Jack’s squirming form, and the tail that was lashing wildly around them, a desperate attempt to make sure that no one could come too close as Gabriel was stopping him from swiping at them. He had no sympathy for them at that moment, because as wild as Jack was at the moment, those words had registered with his partner. And he didn’t need the words to know that they had cut deep._

_“Dr Ziegler, is there a problem?” Ana was there now, moving towards them with a scowl on her face, her gaze darting from Gabriel and Jack, to the men and women braced for an attack around them, and her expression darkened._

_“Captain Amari.” The woman – Dr Ziegler – another face to a name and a voice he had only caught in passing through their communication with him on the station, whirled to face Ana, and Gabriel had the impression that she was one of the few who would dare to address Ana with such vitriol in her voice. “Why weren’t my instructions followed? These men have been through enough already, without us adding to that.”_

_“I passed on your orders and my own,” Ana assured her, making no comment about the tone being levelled at her as she glared at the medical personnel and agents alike. “Leave us.”_

_“But.”_

_“That wasn’t a request.” It was said just as softly as the rest, but there was a menace in those simple words that no one could miss, and Gabriel decided there and then that he didn’t want to get on her wrong side. And that he was glad that she was on their side, as with exaggerated caution the men and women around them backed away, but not without side-eying Jack who had subsided a little, but still had low growls rumbling in the back of his throat._

    Just like today, the situation could have been much worse, but it was another reminder that he couldn’t let his guard down yet, no matter how far Jack seemed to have come since he’d found him. They had been lucky that day. Ana and Dr Ziegler had ushered them into the medical building, away from prying eyes and then given them the time they needed to calm down – or rather, for him to calm Jack down, before approaching them again. It had still been difficult for them to endure, but Dr Ziegler had been the one to examine them both, never once hesitating or flinching, even when Jack had panicked at one point and snapped towards her. It had made it bearable, and he knew that it was her testimony that had earned them this degree of freedom, but he doubted that she would be so forgiving if she saw Jack at his worst.

    Unfortunately, he had a feeling that might be something the future held, because one thing that Petras’ visit had highlighted, was that they couldn’t remain hidden away in here, even if they wanted to. It was an uncomfortable truth, because while he didn’t want them to live out their lives – however, long that might be in these new bodies – in these rooms, he didn’t like the feeling that another choice was being taken out of their hands. He glanced down at Jack, his hands clenching into fists. They weren’t ready for the wider world. Jack wasn’t ready. But he would be damned if one more choice was taken out of their hands.

     Soft-footed, he slipped out of the room, leaving the door cracked open so that he could hear if Jack stirred. The living area was a mess, and he winced at the sight of the sofa, which looked like it had been gutted. That was a problem for later, though, and he took a deep breath as he headed for the front door and yanked it open before he could begin to doubt his decision.

    It was impossible to miss the hulking figure leaning against the wall, seemingly utterly relaxed, although Gabriel could see the single blue eye was continually moving, the man’s muscles tensed to react at any moment, his oversized, surprisingly archaic hammer resting beside him. Reinhardt had been one of the first agents that Ana had introduced them to, and the larger man had been incredibly welcoming, seemingly unfazed by their strange appearances, and by Jack’s refusal to interact with him. That alone had endeared him to Gabriel, and in the days that had followed he had come to the conclusion that Reinhardt was probably the only person he’d met so far,  who might actually be capable of handling one of Jack’s outbursts, not that he was keen to test that theory any time soon.

“Is everything all right?” Reinhardt had spotted him, turning towards him with a concerned frown, his attempt at a whisper, still close to what most people would consider too loud and for a moment Gabriel was distracted, wondering if the other man had always been this outgoing and welcoming. Or whether he was putting in an extra effort for them, but there was no hint of a lie in the expressive face, and finally he nodded, trying for a smile.

“We’re getting there.” He wouldn’t tell them just how bad things could be with Jack, not yet at least, not with Petras’ threat still hanging over his head, but he was as truthful as he could be. “I was hoping that you could let Ana know.” She deserved that much at least, and then he took a deep breath before plunging in. “I also want to talk to her about what Petras said to us.” He refused to use the man’s title, and considering the way, Reinhardt’s expression darkened for a minute, the feeling was mutual.

“I will pass on the message,” Reinhardt replied, before looking at him for a moment. “However, I doubt it will be before tomorrow at the earliest.” There was a gentleness to the words that a man his size shouldn’t be capable of, and Gabriel found himself looking away, wondering just what his expression had been showing for Reinhardt to realise that they weren’t ready for this. There had been a time when Jack had cursed him for his ‘poker face’, but apparently, he no longer had that defence, and there was the faintest waver in his voice as he murmured.

“Thank you.”

 


	5. Chapter 4

     It turned out that Reinhardt’s assessment had been more than accurate, as, by the time that Jack had woken from his exhausted nap, it was almost evening. Not that it would have made any difference if he’d risen earlier, because he was withdrawn to the point where it took Gabriel over an hour to coax a reaction out of him. There was no sign of the violence that had gripped him not long before, but the quiet melancholy was worse in a way because Gabriel didn’t know how to fight that. All he could do was climb into the nest with Jack, and curl himself loosely around the other man because when he was like this, he could be hit or miss in how he reacted to the slightest touch. Tonight, he stiffened as the bed dipped, and held himself separate from Gabriel, back to him and muscles tense, but after a few minutes, his tail crept across the gap between them, curling around Gabriel’s wrist. A tether to reassure himself that he wasn’t alone, and to keep himself grounded, and he didn’t pull away when Gabriel began to run a thumb across the tip in a slow, soothing movement.

     They’d fallen asleep like that. Managing to snatch a couple of hours of relatively peaceful sleep, before Gabriel had been roused by the grip around his wrist turning bruising, jerking awake, just as claws had sliced through the air a worryingly short distance from his face. He knew that it hadn’t been deliberate, because otherwise, Jack would have struck true as he had been completely oblivious, and sure enough when he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he was unsurprised to see that Jack’s eyes were closed.

A nightmare then.

    There was small enough comfort in them because Jack’s nightmares were terrible. Often seeming to make a mockery of how far he’d come when he was conscious because, in sleep, he reverted to the snarling, terrified man that Gabriel had first found in the lab.

    Gabriel didn’t waste his time trying to detach the tail wrapped around his wrist, knowing from experience that was a losing battle. Instead, he attempted to work himself closer, mindful of claws and spikes as Jack’s back arched towards him as he sensed the movement even while asleep. He took one swipe to his jaw, wincing as Jack’s claws drew blood and biting back a yelp, as he seized the gap to scoot closer, pressing against Jack’s back and wrapping all four arms around him and pulling him close. He didn’t try to wake him. Neither of them tended to react well when being woken from a nightmare, and he knew that words wouldn’t help here. Instead, he held on tight and began to hum under his breath, a half-forgotten song that he could remember his grandmother singing to him when he had been ill as a child.

     It took a long time for Jack to even begin to settle, and Gabriel’s arms had taken the brunt of the damage, although it was already healing by the time his partner stiffened his arms. He couldn’t see Jack’s eyes, but the tension told him that he was awake now. Aware was a different matter, and he held his breath, half-braced for another attack. When it didn’t come, and Jack remained rigid but still in his arms, he loosened his grip a little. “Do you want me to let go?” He asked softly, expecting a tiny nod. Instead, Jack finally reached for him, trembling fingers wrapping around his arms and holding him in place, a low, distressed noise rising in his throat as he spied the damage that he had caused. “They’re just scratches, Jack.” _This time,_ he thought but didn’t say aloud. Knowing that neither of them was in any state to deal with that thought.

    Jack shook his head, and his tail slowly loosened and fell away from where it had still been wrapped around his wrist, and Gabriel was hit by pins and needles as feeling returned to that hand, but he resisted the urge to pull it close. Instead, he watched and waited, hoping that this wasn’t Jack pulling away again. Equally relieved and concerned when Jack managed to twist and turn in the circle of his arms, pressing his face into Gabriel, and taking a shuddering breath.

“I’m sorry.” It was a whisper, lost against him, but Gabriel heard it anyway and scowled. He didn’t want or need an apology, not from Jack, and he had opened his mouth intending to say as much when Jack shifted, curling closer. “I-I was back…there.” The hoarse voice cracked and broke, and Gabriel didn’t know what to say. Jack never spoke about his nightmares. Sometimes he could pick up clues from how Jack reacted to certain things when he woke up, or how he acted the day after, but mostly he didn’t know what images haunted Jack at night. Wondering if they were similar to his own nightmares, or something different. “…there was one of them that sounded like him.” The last word was like a curse, and it reminded Gabriel forcibly of how Jack had sounded when he’d attacked the lead Scientist on his block.

 Vicious. Hateful. Inhuman….

“Petras?” He asked, struggling to keep his voice even, and Jack nodded.

     Gabriel bit back a curse. He knew that there was no way for them to avoid Petras entirely, and that Ana could only protect them so much, and that if Jack lunged for the man as he’d gone for him earlier, then they would find themselves locked up quicker than they could say ‘freedom’. “It isn’t him; you know that, right? I know he’s a nasty piece of work.” That was an understatement, to say the least, and Gabriel could feel his own temper rising, reining it in as he saw the first bits of mist beginning to rise from his skin. “But we’re going to have to work with him to a certain extent.” Jack’s grip tightened, not enough to hurt, but enough to let him know that he didn’t like that idea. “Jack…”

“I know.”

     It was a snarl this time, and Gabriel wisely didn’t say anything else, just letting Jack press close and hide against him. Focusing on keeping his own breathing slow and steady, hoping to lull Jack back to sleep, and trying to keep his own thoughts quietly.

    Eventually, he felt Jack’s breathing easy out, and when he felt the tail wrapping itself loosely around his leg, he let out a sigh of relief. They’d had worse nightmares and aftermaths before, and he longed to think that the fact that Jack had actually spoken about it, however, briefly was a step forward, and yet he couldn’t. Maybe because of the outburst earlier, or maybe because of the tiny, needling doubt that Jack’s quiet words had instilled in his mind. Jack had always been good at remembering people, never forgetting a name or face once he’d learned it, and always able to recognise their voice on the phone.

 So, for him to draw a parallel with Petras’ voice.

     Maybe he was overthinking things. After all, Jack had changed, and he had been through a lot and Petras had managed to push both their buttons during their brief visits. He wanted to believe that. Not ready to face the implications of if he was wrong, and yet he couldn’t stop the what-ifs from bubbling up. He certainly wasn’t about to raise those doubts with Ana just yet, but as he glanced down at the snowy hair that was tickling his chin, he knew that he couldn’t just let the matter rest. Hopefully, his meeting with his Ana and his attempt to start ushering them both towards the ‘home’ he had promised would let them keep one step ahead of Petras. If they slowly started putting themselves in the public eye, it would give him less of a chance to try and make use of them…he hoped, skin crawling at the thought of having to think like that.

And he would watch.

    He had become quite good at that while locked up in the lab. It was how he had escaped in the end, after spending endless hours and days learning the routines and habits of every single person who worked in and around where he was kept. The odds were different here, or at least he prayed they were, but he could do the same. He just hoped that it would prove to be a waste of time in the long run, and yet some part of him, a deep, quivering instinct told him that might be a wasted hope. Still, it was something, and taking a deep breath. Trusting that nothing else would happen today, he closed his eyes, and let his head fall against Jack’s, listening to his deep, steady breaths and using the comfort of Jack’s tail around his leg to quiet his thoughts and follow his partner into sleep.

**

    They slept late the next day, tangled so tightly together it was hard to tell where one of them ended and the other began. For once Jack was the first to wake, and when Gabriel finally stirred, still tired and drained from the events of the day before, it was to find Jack laid facing him, watching him with a strangely soft expression in the too-blue eyes. Nostalgia gripped Gabriel then because that was how Jack used to look at him. The same blend of fondness and surprise, as though he could never believe that Gabriel was there with him, even as Gabriel had felt the same. It had the same warming effect as it had always had back then, but it caused something to loosen in his chest, a doubt or fear, that he had never fully allowed himself to think about.

_Was he holding onto a ghost?_

    Not of Jack, because as changed as he was, Gabriel could still see the man he had been and who he could be again with time. But of the relationship, they’d had before all this had happened. It wasn’t that he expected them to just go back to how they’d been. Too much had happened for that. Hell, he had even started to mourn for Jack even before he’d been taken, the endless days of putting up posters and chasing the police for updates taking their toll. And they were both too changed, and too hurt to just go back to being the Jack and Gabe, whom both their families had agreed must have been made for each other. But, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had wondered if he was clinging to a memory and if Jack who certainly welcomed his touch and company more than anyone else, still held a spark of that old affection.

    The answer was written in his gaze that morning. His eyes had always been too expressive, and they were no different now that they seemed to almost glow, they were so bright. And he smiled, hopelessly fond as he reached up to cup Jack’s face between two hands, relieved when the movement was greeted with the lightest of pressures as Jack lent into it rather than retreating. It was always hard to guess how he would be after an outburst. Encouraged he leant up and in, each movement slow and measured, giving Jack chance to retreat if he wanted, but with a soft noise, that reminded Gabriel of a cat’s purr, Jack met him halfway. As with all the kisses they’d shared since it was chaste and short-lived, but with the affection look lingering in Jack’s gaze, it felt different.

Hopeful.

_Another step forward._

*

    They ate a very late breakfast in their nest, mainly because Jack had refused to leave it. That was expected. Just like on the station, the nest had become his sanctuary, and while he seemed to have come through the previous day relatively unscathed, it was clear, that there were scars. Gabriel was willing to accommodate him, and more than happy to curl back up for a while longer once he had coaxed Jack into eating something resembling a decent amount of food. Leaving the rest on the bedside table for when he was hungry later.

     The time had crept by, and it was well past midday when there was a knock on their front door. It was nothing like the aggressive knocking the day before, but Jack still went rigid, a growl rising in his throat as he moved to try and cover Gabriel.

“It’s not him,” Gabriel was quick to reassure him, praying that Petras hadn’t managed to attach himself to the meeting, not sure that he would be able to keep Jack at bay if he had. Seeing Jack’s doubtful expression, and the wariness that boarded on fear in his eyes, he sighed. “I asked Ana if we could talk to her today.” That didn’t make Jack look any happier, but there was a question in his eyes now. “We can’t keep Petras at bay forever, as much as we might want to. Which means that we’re going to have to try and brave the wider world. Just a few steps at a time.” He was careful to soften his words with ‘try’ and that last bit, not wanting to overwhelm Jack, although the other man looked overwhelmed even by the thought of it, tail bunched against his back.

     This wasn’t going to be something he could talk him into. It was going to be a case of showing him that it was safe. Just as he’d had to on the space station when Jack had refused to eat anything when he’d first been rescued, terrified of whatever it was that the Scientists had done to his meals before Gabriel found him. It had taken time, and Gabriel tasting everything before he passed it to Jack before Jack had started to eat again, and it was still a work in progress. This would be the same. But for now, he needed to let Ana in, and with gentle arms, he pushed Jack off him – touched beyond words by the fact that Jack’s first instinct had been to protect him. “I’m just going to go and let her in,” he explained, when Jack tried to cling tighter, and there was a moment when he thought that even that wasn’t going to be enough, but then Jack relented and let him slip out from under him and out of the nest. However, he made no effort to follow, and Gabriel didn’t push him, if only because it would give him a chance to make sure that they didn’t have any unwelcome guests.

*

    Thankfully when he opened the door, it was to find Ana, accompanied by a younger female agent who was practically bouncing from foot to foot impatiently, while Reinhardt stood behind them, a towering bulwark against the rest of the world. He greeted them, making no effort to hide his relief.

“Director Petras will not be joining us,” Ana said with a knowing smirk. “He has kindly consented to allow us to do what ‘we deem best’ for the time being.” Gabriel could practically feel the irritation radiating from her as she clearly parroted the man’s words, and he would have smirked back, were it not for the crippling relief at knowing they had some breathing space. That Jack wouldn’t need to face him again just yet, and he was silent as he gestured for them to enter. Only Ana and the younger woman whom she belatedly introduced as Lena stepped inside, while Reinhardt moved to adopt the same position he’d held yesterday, and Gabriel must’ve made some noise because Ana looked back and smiled slightly. “I wasn’t about to give anyone else a chance to disturb us.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel replied, touched by the gesture, glancing between them. Reinhardt waved it off with a smile, looking utterly relaxed as the door closed on him, while Ana didn’t comment. Although that might have been because she had just caught sight of the sofa. There was a pause, and he wondered if she was about to say something about the destruction, but she didn’t, instead moving to settle on the damaged piece of furniture, an arched eyebrow bringing Lena to sit beside her.

“Will Jack be joining us?” Ana asked.

“That is a good question,” Gabriel muttered, taking a deep breath before heading for the bedroom. With Jack being as calm as he had been, at least before she’d knocked, he hoped that he could entice the other man out to join them. He doubted Jack would have much input on the discussion, but he wanted him to know what was going on. “Give me a moment.” He didn’t wait for their answer, instead heading back through to their bedroom.

    Jack was sat up, tense and wary when he stepped back inside. “He’s not here,” Gabriel reassured him, knowing that was Jack’s biggest concern, although not his only one as he only relaxed minutely at the words. “It’s just Ana and one of her agents, so will you come through and sit with me?” He asked, taking a step closer, as Jack moved as though to shake his head and faltered instead, actually thinking it through.

 “Are you going to come out?” Gabriel asked after several minutes had passed, holding his hands out for Jack to take, knowing that physical contact grounded him more than anything else. Jack had at least moved to the edge of the bed, scooting forward as he considered the request, tail flicking from side to side, a mirror for the indecision on his face. He clearly wasn’t ready to deal with other people, but that was warring with the fact that he didn’t want to let Gabriel out of his sight, and that this conversation was going to be about both of them. “Please…” Gabriel pleaded, seizing onto that last one, and Jack’s eyes narrowed for a minute before he slowly, cautiously unfurled himself from the bed and took a step closer and then another, before darting the last few steps to take the proffered hand. “Thank you,” Gabriel lifted their linked hands so that he could press a quick kiss to the back of Jack’s hand, earning himself the tiniest quirk of his partner’s lips.

*

“Hello, Jack,” Ana said as he guided Jack through into the living room, her voice as calm and even as ever, as though she hadn’t seen him in the early stages of losing control the day before or the damage caused by that outburst. Jack whispered what might have been a greeting, even more, reluctant to speak around others than he was around Gabriel, carefully skirting the sofa as Gabriel guided him across to the other one. Although he did falter for a moment as Lena waved and smiled at him in greeting, looking a little lost at her enthusiasm, and he didn’t fight when Gabriel pulled him into his side, even going so far as to wrap his tail around Gabriel’s shoulders in an approximation of a hug.

    Ana waited for them to settle, watching them carefully, and not for the first time, Gabriel wondered what she saw when she looked at them. Monsters? Victims? People? He didn’t dare ask. “Firstly, I would like to apologise for yesterday,” she spoke first, leaning in, and holding Gabriel’s gaze. “I knew that he wanted to speak to you, but I did not expect him to arrive on the base and just burst in on you. Otherwise, I would have taken better precautions.”

“I can’t say that it’s okay,” Gabriel grimaced as he glanced at Jack, sure that neither of them would be forgetting that incident in a hurry. “But it wasn’t your fault.” She seemed to relax at his words, and once again, he wondered what was hidden behind her expression. Was she genuinely relieved at his words? Or just that they weren’t about to lash out at her and demand retribution? “However, his visit did raise…some salient points.”

“Such as?”

“We can’t hide in here forever,” he gestured at the walls around them. “We’re grateful for this place, and for the time you’ve given us. But, when we in the shuttle I promised Jack that we were going to go home.” _Wherever the hell that is now,_ he thought, abruptly realising that he had never asked what had happened to their apartment. That was a question for another time though, because Jack was tense beside him and the two women were watching him, waiting for him to continue. “And this isn’t home.”

“No, it isn’t,” Ana agreed softly. “But…”

“We’re not ready to just…go out there,” Gabriel swallowed, shivering just at the thought of it, his gaze flicking to the currently dark holoscreen. No, neither of them were ready for that. “But we need to start moving forward.”

“What are you suggesting?”

    It was a simple question, and yet Gabriel was hit by a sudden, almost overwhelming urge to bawl at her words because she had asked. She was giving them the chance to say what they wanted, to contribute to the debate around them. It was something that once upon a time he would have taken for granted, and something that had been stripped from him in the labs, where their voices hadn’t mattered, their thoughts and feelings of no concern. It took him a moment to fight back the urge, blinking fiercely, and holding Jack that little bit tighter, feeling the tail around his shoulders curl tighter. “I…” His voice cracked and broke despite his best efforts, and he gulped thickly before forcing the words out. “I won’t let Petras make those decisions for us, so we have to act first. I don’t know how…a press release, a conference.” He didn’t want to do that, he wasn’t ready for that, and Jack was stirring beside him, uneasy both at his words and from the distress in his voice, but he was determined that it would be their choice. Which steadied him a little bit, and his voice was stronger as he met her gaze once more. “But first, we want to see our family.”

 


	6. Chapter 5

“ _Today Overwatch who has been tasked with the investigation of Talon’s activities released previously unseen footage of what occurred on the Space Station. Viewers are warned that the following images are distressing…”_

     Gabriel flicked off the holoscreen, just as the first somewhat grainy image of the same lab he’d been experimented on filled the screen. He knew that the footage involved didn’t show either him or Jack, but that didn’t mean he wanted to watch it. Not when he could still close his eyes and smell the metal and blood, and medical smell that had been his world for far too long. It was something he doubted he would ever be free of. It had been Ana’s suggestion that they release one of the countless video files they had retrieved from the Talon records that hadn’t been destroyed before Gabriel and Jack had torn through their captors, paving the way for their eventual introduction to the public. It was hoped that seeing some of the horrors that had been inflicted would soften the media and the public, and temper some of those who were still brandishing signs demanding to see the ‘freaks’. While he wasn’t sure how effective it would be, part of him was relieved to know that other people would get to see the truth of what had been done to them, without having to show them himself.

    Still, it was a step forward. A tiny one, but it was progress. And he turned to look back towards the bedroom. The door was cracked open, and he could just make out Jack’s tail from where he was sat, lashing from side to side. It was a familiar sight now, as Jack had been on edge ever since that meeting with Ana, or rather since Petras had burst in and forced Gabriel into motion to try and protect them from being pushed into a situation they didn’t want. And the brief moment of feeling like they were a step closer to their old relationship felt a lifetime ago because Jack wasn’t just upset about the general situation. He was upset with Gabriel, or rather with what Gabriel had said during the meeting and what had been set in motion.

_“But first, we want to see our family.”_

_Until he’d said it aloud, Gabriel hadn’t let himself admit just how much he wanted to see them. As much as it terrified him to imagine how they would react because his imagination would only ever allow him to imagine the worst-case scenario, he missed them with an almost physical ache. He had always missed them, but it had got worse since coming back to Earth because they were now within his reach. So close that he could almost see them._

_Ana had smiled at his words, and it had made her look younger and softer. “Well, that will certainly make our lives easier.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“They have been hounding us for answers ever since your name was released to the media,” Lena was the one to reply, leaning forward. “They’ve contacted us nearly every day.”_

_“Then why…?”_

_“Because you weren’t ready,” Ana cut him off, voice deliberately soft in contrast to the sharpness in his voice, and he immediately subsided. “I know you miss them, but the fact that you’ve only just asked to see them tells me that you weren’t ready before.” He didn’t want her to be right, but he couldn’t argue with what she was saying. His family. Their family had never been far from his thoughts, but he hadn’t pushed to see them. Had barely even conceived of it, some sense of self-preservation making him skitter away from the thought on the few occasions that had risen beyond everything else._

_“But we can see them now…?” He asked, needing the confirmation._

_“I will ask Emily to contact them,” Lena replied after a glance from Ana. It was another name he vaguely recognised from the communications on the station – and he had a fleeting memory of a redhead scribbling notes when he had given their names, and their old address and what he could remember of contact details for both his and Jack’s families. “She has been acting as a family liaison officer. I’m sure she will be delighted to be able to be the bearer of good news.” The bright smile she had worn since joining them, seemingly unfazed by their oddness, dimmed finally and Gabriel had to look away. He knew that they weren’t the only ones who had been taken and experimented on. They had seen some of the others. He had spoken to some of them through the walls of his cell. And he knew that many of them had died on that station. It had been a sobering reminder that in the grand scheme of things they had been lucky._

_“I want to see them…” He replied, hoarse with emotion at the thought of how different those conversations with his family could have been, and how many times they must’ve been told to expect the worst while he was missing._

_“I don’t.”_

_Jack’s voice, never loud around strangers, was almost deafening at that moment. Introducing a vein of tension that hadn’t been there before, and ice slid beneath Gabriel’s skin as he turned to look at Jack. Too-blue eyes met his gaze without hesitation for once, and there was a fire in their depths and set to Jack’s expression that Gabriel hadn’t seen for a long time. It spelt disaster. Jack, for all his sunny smile and bright eyes, had always had a stubborn streak a mile wide, and when he really sank his heels in, even Gabriel hadn’t been enough to change his mind._

_“Jack…”_

_“I don’t want them to see me…not like this.” It was the first time Jack had directly addressed his physical changes. He had always been aware of them, but he’d always skittered away from all conversation about it, and Gabriel hated that he had finally raised the topic at this moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Lena had paled and shrank back, smile gone entirely, while Ana was watching them with pained understanding._

_“You’re still you,” Gabriel moved, ignoring their visitors in favour of dropping to his knees in front of Jack and taking his hands in his. Ignoring claws, and swaying tail and teeth that were too big and an inhuman colour and looking up at the man he loved. “You’re still Jack, and they will see that.” He smothered his doubt. He couldn’t afford for Jack to see any uncertainty in his expression right now, his grip tightening when Jack tried to pull away. “When you were taken, they never gave up on you. They hounded the police and me, making sure that we didn’t give up. That I didn’t lose hope.” It had been close at times, too close, but the Morrisons had never once blamed him for Jack’s disappearance, and shared his pain, embracing him not as Jack’s partner, but as a part of their family…regardless of what the eventual outcome might be._

_For a moment, Jack seemed to hesitate, considering his words, and Gabriel was caught off guard when Jack abruptly wrenched his hands away and rose to his full height. He sensed, more than saw Ana tense and he knew that she was thinking back to what had happened the day before, but he wasn’t worried, because while Jack was tense, his eyes had remained normal and his tail was stiff behind him. “You should see yours,” Jack murmured, cautiously reaching out, mindful of his claws as he rested his hand on Gabriel’s head for a moment. A benediction. “But I’m not going with you.” He lingered a moment longer, then he was gone, retreating back into the sanctuary of the bedroom and their nest, and the sound of the door closing sounded like a death knell to Gabriel._

     It had been three days since then, and whenever Gabriel tried to raise the subject, he was met by stubborn silence and a distance that scared him. It had always been the two of them. They had been inseparable from the moment they had met as friends, becoming entwined as their relationship had turned romantic, and it had reached new levels since he’d found Jack in the lab. He had come to take it for granted he realised now, feeling strangely adrift, even though Jack was still in their rooms, just a few metres away.

    It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Jack’s fear. He did. It was a terror that had gnawed at him even as he told Ana that he wanted to see his family, one that had only grown when she and Emily had confirmed that arrangements were being made to fly his family out to them – another measure to keep their location secret for the time being. He wasn’t any more ready for this than Jack was, but something had to give in this situation before it broke, and he had decided to be that thing. And he did want to see them. He needed to see them. The ache had spread now that he knew they were coming, that he would soon get to see them with his own eyes, speak with them.

_Hold them._

    It felt like he had just been dunked into a pool of icy water with that last thought, his stomach tying itself in knots as he glanced down at himself. His lower arms were currently clasped about his waist, almost a self-hug, something that he noticed himself doing more and more often in an attempt to stop his form from wavering when his emotions got too much to contain. The others had moved to grip the counter, bracing him, and for the first time in a while, he was struck by the full weight of what had been done to him, and what he had become. _I don’t want them to see me…not like this,_ Jack’s words echoed in his mind, and he swallowed, feeling them threatening to take hold. He had been so good about not thinking about it, about stopping his mind from straying too far into the worst ‘what-if’ scenarios about how his family were going to react to him, but his defences were weakening and wavering.

    He must have made some kind of noise, or maybe it was the counter that splintered beneath his tightening grip, because he barely seemed to blink before there was movement and a warmth against his back, as for the first time in days Jack came to him. It was like being draped in a warm blanket as the other man pressed against his back, his tail curling around to brush against the hands Gabriel had clenched against his stomach. That gentle touch shattered him. A pained noise that was half groan, half sob, bubbling up in his throat as he twisted on the stool, practically falling into Jack as soon as he was facing. And Jack, his face a mask of surprise and worry, pupils beginning to shift and become more cat-like caught him and pulled him close.

“J…” He couldn’t get the words out, his throat constricting, feeling as though if he said anything right now, then everything else would come crumbling down too. Jack seemed to understand anyway, tightening his hold, his tail now a tight, grounding touch on his wrist. He was purring… no not purring, because he was tense and stressed, but a soft, rumbling noise all the same. An attempt at comfort, Gabriel realised as he pressed his face into Jack’s chest, finding himself chasing the gentle vibrations.

“I’m sorry…” Gabriel wasn’t sure how long they’d been stood like that, Jack supporting most of his weight, when Jack finally spoke, the vibrations against his buried face changing and taking on a sour note. And as much as he wanted to remain where he was, he pulled back with a confused frown.

“Why are you apologising?”

“I made you doubt yourself,” Jack wouldn’t meet his gaze, tail beginning to twitch, although his grip didn’t loosen.

“No…” Gabriel shook his head, before slowly, reluctantly pulling away. It might have been the memory of Jack’s words, and the fear in them, that had fed into his own, but it wasn’t the cause of it, and he sighed as he straightened. “The doubts were already there. They were there when I decided to ask Ana to let me see them, and when I tried to persuade you.” He half expected Jack to pull away at that, but his partner had always liked to be contrary to his expectations and now was no different as he huffed a noise that could have been a laugh and closed the distance between them.

“You hid it well.”

_“You hid it well,” Jack laughed, all dimples and blue eyes and Gabriel fell a little more in love, even as the other man continued to chuckle at his confession that he had been so nervous that he had nearly chickened out of asking him out._

    Gabriel blinked at the words from another life, and when he met Jack’s gaze before he was pulled back into another tight hug, he realised that Jack had known precisely what he was saying. And his breath caught for a different reason now, as Jack leaned in to kiss him. Still as chaste and cautious as their other kisses, but Gabriel could count on one hand the number that had been initiated by Jack, leaning into it just a little, soaking up the offered comfort. “I’m not going to change my mind,” Jack said quietly as they parted, but he didn’t look away. “But…I will be there or at least nearby.” _In case things go wrong,_ Gabriel heard the unspoken words, and he might have flinched were it not for the implication in those words. Because for Jack to be there at the meeting, he would have to emerge from the sanctuary of their rooms, because security restrictions meant that his family wouldn’t be allowed this far into the base.

“Jack…”

“You don’t need to protect me from everything,” Jack cut him off, voice soft to take any sting out of his words. His expression was a different matter, a complicated mixture of anger, guilt and a bone-deep grief that Gabriel recognised all too well because it haunted them both every day. Mourning everything that had been lost, or rather stolen from them. “…I don’t want to be a burden.” His voice wavered and broke, and now he did pull away, trying to slip out of Gabriel’s grasp. He wasn’t quick enough, and Gabriel had four arms now to help him grab his partner and pull him close, the fact that Jack didn’t fight him, telling him everything.

“You are not a burden,” he whispered fiercely. Not once had he felt that way or thought that it was unfair that he was the one taking the weight of trying to move them forward. “You will never be a burden.” Because as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that there was a chance his family would take one look at what he had become and run as far as they could in the distance. He wanted to think better of them, to believe that they would welcome him with open hands no matter how inhuman he might seem in this form, but it was harder than he liked it. But Jack. Jack understood, and he could still look at him with the same fondness and affection as he had when they had been normal men with no idea of what the future held for them. He would be there if things went wrong, and he would be following him forward. Maybe at a slower pace. Maybe reluctantly. But he would follow, he had shown that much already, and in that quiet, fierce declaration that he would be there for the meeting.

“I…”

“Or, if you are, then I am too,” Gabriel was relentless, scowling at him when Jack immediately opened his mouth to protest, and silencing him as he added with as much strength and feeling as he could put into the words. “Because I need you, Jack.” More than his family, more than home, he needed Jack by his side. He had experienced life without that, a wound that was still healing, and he never wanted to go through that again. Jack leant into him, clinging to him just as tightly as Gabriel was holding on to him.

 


	7. Chapter 6

   Gabriel was a bundle of nerves the morning of his meeting with his family. For once Jack appearing to be the calmest of the two of them, although Gabriel had noticed that his tail hadn’t stopped swaying since they’d both woken at the crack of dawn too antsy to go back to sleep. It hadn’t helped that the footage that had been released about what had been done on the station had been met with mixed reactions. For the most part, there had been outrage and renewed calls for answers and punishment for Talon violating human rights. But there had been whispers. Questions about what the ‘survivors’ must be like, after witnessing some of the transformations that had been caused by the experimentation, and renewed calls for more details to be released to the public. Ana had held a press conference in response to those demands, managing to sound polite and professional throughout, even as she verbally tore strips of the press who had focused on those demands. Her argument that anyone who would take that choice from the was just repeating the crimes of Talon, taking their freedom had silenced all but the most vocal and brought them valuable breathing space.

    It had also acted as a smokescreen, allowing Overwatch to bring his family to them without attracting unwanted attention. Which was why they were currently following Reinhardt and Lena through the base, to the room where his grandmother, mother and sisters were waiting for him. Jack was a quiet presence at his side, currently distracted by trying to remain as invisible as possible as he tucked himself into the shadow of Reinhardt’s bulk. If the larger man noticed he was kind enough not to comment, and it seemed to Gabriel that he would seem to swell and try to make himself bigger whenever they passed through the more crowded areas. Gabriel was vaguely aware of the attention they were garnering, but it was a distant worry. He didn’t have time to worry about what strangers might think of him when he was about to find out whether his hopes or fears were going to be proven right, and he was grateful for the tail that Jack had wrapped around his wrist as they moved forward.

   His fear was like a physical chain now, slowing his steps, and leaving him feeling sicker and sicker with each step he took. He had been wrong, he wasn’t ready for this, and he wondered what people would do if he said that aloud now. If he begged them to cancel the meeting. Jack wouldn’t judge him, but everyone else…the people that had worked so hard to bring his family here. He couldn’t do it to them, and he couldn’t do it to his family, who had all but bitten Emily’s hand off when she had contacted them about arranging the meeting, apparently unfazed by her clear warnings that their missing child and brother was very different now. And so, he kept moving and prayed as he hadn’t prayed in years that he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.

_Please…don’t let them hate me._

**

    They were using what had clearly been an interrogation room at some point, as it had a one-way window from a side room, although attempts had been made to make the main room more comfortable and Gabriel made a note to thank Ana for that later. If this didn’t go completely awry. For now, they were in the side room, where Jack was going to wait with Reinhardt as he still refused to meet either of their families and now faced with the actual meeting Gabriel was still half-tempted to join him. Perhaps Jack had realised, because even though they were surrounded by people that he would still class as ‘strangers’ despite having seen them plenty of times now, he was making no effort to remain aloof, practically plastered against his side. He wasn’t speaking, but Gabriel wasn’t sure whether that was because of him avoiding his changed voice or if he was worried about his words discouraging Gabriel. But somehow, his silence, and his acceptance were better than words could ever have been.

    There was movement in the other room, Emily opening the door and stepping into the room, directing a smile in their direction although she couldn’t see them, but Gabriel barely spared her glance. Because close on her heels was his family… In the lead was Leah, just two years older than him, she had been his best friend and worst enemy when he was growing up, but she had grown into a beautiful woman, and the last time he had seen her she had been engaged and buried in wedding preparations. She had tried to involve him as much as she could, desperately trying to stop him losing himself in the search for Jack and as he glanced at her hand now, he could see that the engagement ring had been joined by a wedding ring. 

_I missed so much…_

    Behind her came his mother. Eva Reyes had always been a battle-axe, which had helped when keeping the peace between her three children who had been like cats and dogs at times, especially as a single mother who worked every hour she could and then squeezed as much time as possible with her ‘brats’ as she had called them fondly. He could see that fierceness in her still, but it was bruised and battered, and there were wrinkles and shadows in her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time he had seen her, and guilt twisted in his gut.

_Did I do that…?_

    Just a step behind her was Sarah. The oldest of the three, she had always held herself above them, using that age difference to fill their head with nonsense when they were little, and Gabriel had lost track of the number of pranks she had pulled on them. She had gone on to become a teacher, which had led to Gabriel and Leah pretending to fear for what she was going to teach the kids. She had changed too, looking older than he remembered, and there was a streak of grey at her temple that she wore with pride, but the most significant change and the one that had his heart racing was the swell at her stomach.

_I’m going to be uncle…?_

    Then finally, learning slightly on Ana, was the person he had longed to see the most and also feared the most. His grandmother. She wasn’t looking at the room, or the rest of their family, instead she seemed intent on her conversation with Ana, and there was a scowl on her face that told him that she was demanding answers.

_She’s here._

    He wasn’t aware of moving, Jack trailing loyally after him as he moved to the window and rested his hands on the glass. They were all so close, and yet as he let his gaze shift from one to the other, he felt a million miles away. They had changed so much, and he knew that there were more differences that he couldn’t see from the outside. Not like he had, but enough to leave him uncertain. He didn’t know them anymore he realised, and it left a foul taste in his mouth and the urge to flee returned more intense than ever. He might have given into it this time as well, were it not for Ana straightening and glancing across at the glass, eyebrow arched in question. He had a brief moment to realise that she was still giving him a choice before another voice rang out.

“Gabriel Reyes, get yourself in here right now.” His mother had caught where Ana’s gaze had gone and had easily connected the dots, advancing on the window with her hands on her hips and it was like he was a child again, caught pranking his sisters and he shrank back even though she couldn’t see him. Maybe, she had sensed his reaction though, because her expression softened. “Please, Gabe… we just want to see you.”

    He couldn’t deny her, even though his fear hadn’t abated in the slightest and he took a deep breath before nodding, hearing Lena relaying his decision through her communicator and seeing Ana nod on the other side. It still took him a moment to convince himself to move, his legs feeling like lead as he finally pulled away from Jack’s comforting presence and began to head for the door, wondering why it felt like he was walking towards the gallows.

“Gabe…” He had just reached for the door handle when Jack’s voice rang out, and he immediately looked back, caught by the nickname and the fact that his partner had spoken out so loudly around the others. “I…” Jack faltered, visibly frustrated with himself as he did so, but he didn’t look away, letting Gabriel see the emotions that he couldn’t put into words just yet, blue eyes shimmering, and Gabriel smiled for the first time that morning.

“Yeah, I know,” he murmured, before slipping out of the room and closing the door firmly behind him.

_I love you too, Jack…_

**

    It was barely ten feet to the next door, but it felt much longer, and it was sheer stubbornness that kept him moving, propelling him to the threshold of the room. He did hesitate now because this was it. There would be no more hypotheticals and wild imaginings because once he opened that door, he would know how they would react to what he had become.

_Come on, Reyes…_

     He couldn’t move. He couldn’t bring an arm out to open the door. It was too much. Just as it had been on the station when he had seen the name ‘Morrison’ in messy scrawl on the clipboard hung outside cell 76 in the lab, hope and fear holding him trapped between them. Yet, it was the fact that he had found Jack behind that sealed door, that finally made him move, fingers shaking wildly as he gripped the handle and turned it. The door creaked open, the sound almost deafening in the silence that gripped the room at his appearance.

     Ana and Emily had moved to the side, watchful, but willing to let things play out between the family unless things went badly. However, he didn’t have eyes for them. He was looking at his family, without really seeing them, not daring to look at them directly, waiting…barely breathing, and struggling to remind himself that he still had Jack, no matter what happened.

“Gabriel…?” His mother whispered, shock vibrating through her voice and he flinched but forced himself to look up at her, just as she took a step back. It hurt. It cut and burned, more than anything the scientists had ever done to him, and he wanted to flee, but he couldn’t move.

“What…?” Sarah whispered, and she was the one to move forward. Closing the distance between them like one in a dream. Her expression itself was unreadable, but her eyes were wide…and horrified… as they moved across his face, seeing the unnatural crimson eyes, the mist that he could feel beginning to rise from his skin, before moving down to his arms. “What did they do to you?” He couldn’t answer that, not sure how much he would ever be able to tell them about what had been done to them, unable to do anything but shake his head mutely.

     She reached him them, halting in front of him and he couldn’t breathe, his vision beginning to blur around the edges. It was too much. She was too close. Then she was touching him, just the lightest of touches, fingers curling against his cheek for a moment before she snatched her hands back, and when he blinked, her eyes were full of tears. “I-I’m sorry, I can’t…I just… I can’t…” She pushed past him, and he made no effort to stop her, feeling something break and shatter in his chest as she disappeared out of the room and down the corridor, arms curled protectively around her bump. _As though he might be a danger…_

“I will go after her,” Emily murmured, excusing herself, brushing his lower elbow in a show of support as she followed his sister out of the room.  He couldn’t reply. He was coming undone, unable to move, and barely able to look towards the rest of his family.

_This was a mistake…this mistake…_

   Rosalie Reyes might have more grey than anything in her hair now and move with the aid of the stick. An addition since the last time he had seen her, but there was nothing frail or subdued about her as she began to curse, loudly and colourfully. It wasn’t the first time Gabriel had seen such an outburst from her, remembering the day he had come home from school bloodied and bruised and in dire need of a trip to the hospital. She had been on the warpath that day, and nothing had stood in her way. It was the same today. No one daring to move or speak as she crossed the room to where Gabriel was stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do or say, or where to look. He knew that she was approaching, and terrified of seeing the same shock and fear in her eyes, his gaze was fixated on the ground as he desperately fought the urge just to turn tail and flee.

“Come here,” she had reached him now, and there was a clatter as she dropped her stick to the ground. The sound was enough to make him flinch and try to step back, but then her hands were on him, shaking a little but not hesitating as she grasped him and pulled him close. It never occurred to him to fight, and by the time he realised what was going on, she had pulled him into a tight hug. “Silly child.” It was the same gentle, scolding as the time he had been sent home for picking a fight with a boy who had targeted his sister, terrified of the punishment he was going to get, unprepared for his grandmother pulling him close and telling him never to stop being who he was. And it was so wonderfully, terribly familiar that he broke, a sob rising in his throat as he tentatively returned the hug, mindful of his increased strength and wondering whether he had grown, or she had shrunk as he nearly had to double over to embrace her tightly.

    She smelt of home and childhood, and he wasn’t sure which of them was trembling more as he buried his nose in her shoulder, valiantly fighting back another sob. There was a strength in her grip, that put his to shame. “Mama Rosa,” he whispered, voice cracking and breaking. A plea and a ‘thank you’ all at once.

“You’re alive.” There was a wealth of pain and relief in her words, and something eased in his chest because she was holding onto him as though he was still her Gabriel. Her little devil with an angel’s name she had called him when he was little, always with the same fond smile on her lips. It didn’t remove the pain of Sarah’s reaction, and he wasn’t quite ready to face his mother or Leah yet, but maybe that was okay. Because he had Jack waiting for him, and his grandmother seemed loathe to let him go anytime soon, and he did the only thing he could, chuckling helplessly – knowing that it sounded more like a sob.

“I’m alive…”

     There were more arms around him now he realised, tensing for a moment, immediately recognising that it wasn’t Jack and he could feel the itch on his back and shoulders, his skin ready to split apart. _No, not here._ He certainly wasn’t ready to let them see that part of him, and he lifted his breath, searching out the danger, only to tense for a different reason as he realised that his mother had joined the group hug and that Leah was stood a short distance away watching them. His mother didn’t speak, but the arms she wrapped around him, mindful of her mother were words enough, because there was no hesitation in her touch. No revulsion. Just the same warmth he’d always associated with going home to her. Jack had once joked that it wasn’t fair that he had all the best huggers in his family, but right now he didn’t care about fair, he just never wanted to leave this moment, because they were hugging him. Holding him close. As though nothing had changed.

    Eventually, his grandmother had to pull back, wavering a little, and it was Ana that moved forward to support her, leaving him in his mother’s embrace for a moment longer. His heart swelling several sizes, as she kissed both his cheeks, looking into the crimson eyes that were so different from the brown he had inherited from her, before whispering. “I missed you, so much…” Then she let him go, turning him so that he was facing Leah.

   There was a pause, neither of them seeming to breathe and then she was rushing at him, flinging her arms around him with a sob that broke his heart and fixed it all at once. Because she had never been one for tears, and yet she was crying now. Huge, wracking sobs of relief as she seemed determined to imitate a Kraken as she clung to him. “Leah…” He breathed, as he returned the hug, rocking her from side to side, and then gripped by a sudden surge of nostalgia he spun her around, just as he had whenever they’d met up. There were a few seconds of silence, and he was terrified that he had overstepped, but then she squealed. It was clogged with tears, but it was still the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard, and when he set her down again, he pulled her closer, all four arms tight around her.

      They could’ve remained like that for a lifetime if they’d been allowed, but eventually, their mother cleared her throat, and reluctantly they separated, although Leah reached out and grabbed his hand, refusing to let him go entirely. And he wondered if she knew how much that simple gesture meant to him.

“At least I don’t need to worry about you dropping me anymore,” she said. A weak echo of her old teasing, ruined by the redness around her eyes, but it was still enough to startle a laugh out of him, and when he looked up, both his mother and grandmother looked like they were about to burst into tears at the sight of them. While he and Leah had been distracted, Ana had settled them at the table, and he felt a pang as he glanced towards what would now be an extra seat, unable to stop himself glancing back towards the door.

“She will come around,” Leah had followed his gaze, and he wished that he had her certainty, unable to forget the horror in their sister’s eyes. “It was a shock.” _For all of us,_ he heard the unspoken words and saw it in the way she glanced at him, as though she still wasn’t sure what she was seeing, although her grip didn’t loosen in the slightest as she pulled him towards the table. “And if she doesn’t, then I will knock some sense into her.”

“You will do no such thing, she’s…”

“Pregnant, I know,” Leah finished with a sigh, pouting at their mother and Gabriel was suddenly struck by the realisation that maybe things hadn’t changed as much as he had thought they had. It made it easier for him to give in to his sister’s urging, as she shepherded him into the chair between her and their grandmother.

“I will let you have some privacy if you need me just shout,” Ana murmured, tactfully withdrawing, with a smile in his direction and a tiny nod when his gaze flickered to the glass. A silent request for her to check on Jack because even as his fears and doubts eased a little, he was struck by the fact that Jack didn’t have this yet. He might not be ready for it, but he wasn’t sure that he could have endured watching Jack reconnect with his family, and not done the same…but that was him, and Jack was…

“…Jack?” His mother asked, sharp eyes catching the brief reaction and he blinked at her in surprise, unable to miss the hope colouring her question. The hope reflected in all their faces, and not knowing what else to do, he nodded. He’d always known that they’d shared his grief and worry over Jack’s disappearance, but it was a different thing to see it still there, especially after that pain had been overlain with his own disappearance.

“I found him…” Gabriel murmured. “Up t-there.” His voice cracked and broke, and he saw them flinch then, pained and uncertain, not knowing how to help. Not knowing what had happened, and abruptly he wondered if they had watched the footage that had been released, or if they had avoided it, fervently hoping it was the latter. He wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to tell them everything, and part of him wanted to spare them from all of it, although he knew from the looks, they were giving him that was unlikely to be an option. “He…” He wasn’t sure how to explain what Jack was or how he was, and not just because Jack might still be watching. Instead, he shrugged and glanced at his mother. “How did you…?”

“Know that you were talking about Jack?” She asked, a small smile appearing at his nod. “You’ve only ever looked like that when you were worrying about him.” 

Gabriel blinked.

And blinked again, as his vision blurred, and his eyes burned.

    That simple statement of fact, and the fact that they had remembered something like that, making him come undone completely. Sarah fleeing had shattered him. But this devotion and show of love splintered him, and he was barely aware of their alarmed voices as he buried his head in his hands and wept.

 


	8. Chapter 7

     Gabriel knew enough about interrogation rooms to know that the glass in the one-way window was strong enough to withstand bullets, let alone physical attempts. However, apparently what the designers hadn’t considered was panicked, overly strong, part-humans, because he was still caught up in the whirl of his emotions, shoulders shaking violently under the force of his sobs when there was terrible splintering sound. It was loud enough to break through the storm gripping him, and he lifted his head just in time to see what a spider-web of cracks in the glass, splinter and shatter had been before a bulky figure came hurtling forward sending the glass crashing to the ground.

“Jack!” Terror gripped him at that moment, highly aware of the three women around him, knowing that none of them was in a position to hold of Jack if he had lost control and unsure of whether he could do enough damage control to get them out uninjured. Not knowing what else to do, he flung himself backwards from the table, trying to put as much distance between him and then as he could as he realised that Jack was making a beeline for him. The metal chair that he had been set in hadn’t been made for such abuse and it crumbled with a scream of protest, and then he was falling, trying to brace himself for that impact and potentially for Jack slamming into him.

    Instead, there was a snarling growl, and his descent came to an abrupt halt as arms wrapped around him from behind. _Jack._ There was a rumbling growl from behind him, and Jack’s grip tightened as he made to try and pull free, and it took a moment for the sound to cut through his panicked terror, and for him to realise that it wasn’t the feral noise he had come to associate with Jack at his worst. There was a worried, anxious timbre to the sound, and he blinked, realising that Jack was holding onto him and gently pulling him back.

 

_He’s trying to protect me…_

    Just like that, he imagined what it must’ve looked like from Jack’s perspective. First, Sarah’s reaction, which he knew had visibly devastated him from the way his grandmother had reacted and then going to pieces as he sat surrounded by his family. Jack had been watching and had misunderstood and had acted out of protective… not fury, because while he was all tense, and his tail was lashing around him, he hadn’t bulked up. He had been motivated by the need to protect, and Gabriel sighed and reached for the arms holding him close.

“I’m okay, Jack,” he murmured, gripping him tightly, trying not to flinch at the sharp intake of breath as he said his partner’s name. Had Jack really changed that much? He felt more than saw Jack shake his head, disagreeing with his words, and he sighed. “They accepted me, and they remembered Jack. How we used to be… and it was relief or happiness, or I’m not sure what. But I promise I’m okay.” He tried to keep his voice soft, wanting to keep the words between them, but the size of the room afforded them very little privacy, and there was really no way for his family to miss his words.

“You thought that we wouldn’t…?” Leah whispered.

“I hoped,” Gabriel replied, twisting so that he could peer up at Jack, even as he spoke to both him and his family. “And I doubted.” It hurt to admit that aloud, and he couldn’t look at them. “And when Sarah… I thought the worst.” There was still a seed of doubt he realised, maybe because of Sarah’s reaction, or perhaps because Jack was still on edge, still watchful, those too-blue eyes flicking between Gabriel and Gabriel’s family. “Jack…”

“Jack Morrison,” Rosalie’s voice cracked out like a whip, holding a strength and fierceness that belied her age, and Jack flinched…just as he had all those years ago when a younger Mama Rosa had rounded on him and demanded to know what his intentions were towards Gabriel. It drew Jack’s attention and Gabriel tensed, ready to intervene if Jack’s control wavered. What he wasn’t prepared for was the soft, wounded noise that Jack made, and he twisted to look at his grandmother and immediately saw the reason for Jack’s distress. Despite her tone, she was smiling, the laughter lines around her eyes deepening, just as she had when Jack had stammered and blushed his way through his reply.

     Apparently, it was too much for Jack because he snarled. Not angry but helpless. Vulnerable and wary, and Gabriel moved then, taking advantage of the fact that Jack’s grip had loosened slightly in his surprise, and he twisted, reversing their positions. Wrapping his arms tightly around Jack. It spoke volumes for Jack’s current frame of mind that he didn’t fight, although his tail cracked worryingly close to his cheek before falling limp against the ground. As though Jack no longer knew how he was supposed to feel. He probably didn’t, because Gabriel wasn’t sure, and this was his family.

   His family, who were staring at them, and while there was no horror or disgust, or any of the myriad emotions that Gabriel had feared, there was a dawning realisation in their eyes. Maybe it was because, beyond his arms, and eyes, he still looked like him, while Jack looked more changed, especially as his tail began to lash again. Or maybe it was seeing them together, the strange, inhuman image they presented…and yet still so human as they clung to one another.

“Is…?” There was movement behind them, the door being flung open as Ana and Reinhardt rushed inside, and it occurred to him that they had just seen Jack burst in and had probably expected the worst after Jack’s last outburst. Ana’s question cutting off as she realised that Gabriel was hugging Jack tightly and that no one had been harmed, and there was an awkward moment, with no one knowing what to do.

And then his mother stepped forward.

“Thank you.” Gabriel blinked, confused for a moment before he realised that she was looking at Ana who relaxed a little at the words. “Thank you for bringing our boys back to us.” _Our boys._ He felt Jack jerk in his arms and knew that he had registered the choice of words, even as warmth swelled in his chest because she was claiming him. Acknowledging that he was still Gabriel Reyes. He was still the man he had been, even when he wasn’t, and he could feel himself beginning to shake again, a fresh splintering beginning in his chest.

“You’re welcome,” Ana was smiling, although there was something akin to guilt in her eyes as she added softly with a glance at them. “Although, it would be more accurate to say they brought themselves home.”

   Gabriel thought back to labs, and corridors filled with artificial light and blood on his claws…he thought about seeing ‘Morrison’ on that clipboard, and ripping that door off its hinges to find Jack huddled inside, wild and broken, a far cry from the man he had loved… he thought about the chaos that had followed as Jack had run rampant, and Gabriel had been disinclined to intervene as those that had tortured them fell…  he thought about that first nest, and the daily outbursts, the realisation that they couldn’t just go back to normal as they learnt about the changes that had been done to their body…and that first terrifying time that he had managed to reach out for help.

_Oh…_

     He had felt helpless back then, little more than a victim of circumstance, and yet now he realised that they had made their choices. They had fought to get to this point and thought hard. And he took a deep breath and glanced down at Jack, lying still and pliant in his arms, and then up at his family who were looking at them with tears in their eyes. Looking at them as though they were the most precious thing in the world. As though they were still just Jack and Gabe…

And he smiled.

“We’re home…”

    It wasn’t the ideal he had been thinking about when he had promised to Jack home on the shuttle back, and it didn’t mean that everything was forgotten. They still had to deal with Sarah’s reaction, and then the rest of the world. They still had the shadow of Petras hanging over them. And Talon was still out there, the investigation into how they had been taken and what had been done to them was only just beginning, and it would be a long time if ever before the effects of what had been done to them were forgotten. Yet for the first time, as he carefully pushed Jack back up onto his feet and stood with him, before guiding him forward, unsurprised when Jack’s tail wrapped around his wrist, he felt as though the light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t so far away.

    A light that rushed forward to engulf them, as without a second glance at the shattered window behind them, or their changed appearances, even when Jack stirred and growled uneasily, his family gathered around him. Around them. His grandmother rising on wavering legs and clutching her stick and moving to embrace Jack before his partner had a chance to realise what she was doing. Jack went rigid at first under the gentle touch, but then he seemed to melt, eyes hopelessly fond, just as they’d been when he had watched Gabriel the other morning, as he tentatively returned the hug.

“We missed you,” she was whispering to him, and Gabriel was moving even before Jack’s expression crumpled, not that it was hard as he was still tethered by the tail. And now he moved closer, wrapping his arms around both of them, feeling his mother and sister crowd in behind them. He missed Sarah and vowed to himself to reach out again before Leah could tear her a new one, before forcing himself to focus on the here and now. On the family around him, and on the fact that Jack was pressing close to all of them, an almost smile on his face as he met Gabriel’s eyes over the top.

Another step closer to ‘home’.

      

**THE END**

 


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